PRELIMINARY 

CONFERENCE 


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HELD   IN  THE 

Madison  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church 
New  York  City,  March  27, 1894 


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j  AUG    28  1979 

The  Open 

OR 

Institutional  Church 
League. 


Preliminary  Conference, 


HELD  IN  THE 


Madison  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church, 
New  York  City, 


MARCH   27,  1894 


"  Non  ministrari,  sed  ministrare.' 


Boston  : 

The  Everett  Press  Company, 
47  Franklin  Street, 


The  Call  for  a  Conference. 


Early  in  March,  1894,  the  following  letter  was  sent  out  to  a 
number  of  individuals  and  was  also  printed  in  some  of  the  lead- 
ing religious  journals :  — 

New  York,  Mar.  6,  1894. 

My  Dear  Brother:  — 

The  time  seems  ripe  for  an  organized  advance  along  the  lines  of  practical 
church  work.  A  number  of  churches,  having  experimented  for  several  years 
with  some  of  the  newer  methods,  have  reached  results  which  encourage  us 
to  believe  that  the  burning  question  "  How  to  reach  the  masses  "  is  practi- 
cally solved.  What  we  now  need  is  co-operation  and  aggressive  action  on 
the  part  of  these  churches.  It  has  been  thought  that  if  a  few  of  the  pastors 
and  laymen  who  are  interested  in  the  "  Free,"  "  Open-door,"  or  "  Institu- 
tional Church  "  methods  could  get  together  for  a  conference,  much  good 
might  result.  Possibly  a  league  might  be  formed  for  the  advancement  of 
new  methods.  Knowing  of  your  interest  in  the  subject,  we  take  the  liberty 
of  asking  you  to  join  us  in  a  conference  to  be  held  in  the  Madison  Avenue 
Presbyterian  Church,  Madison  Avenue- and  53d  St.,  New  York  City,  on  the 
27th  day  of  this  month,  at  10  A.  m.  The  purpose  is  to  devote  the  day  to  a 
free  conference,  with  a  public  meeting  in  the  evening. 

Believing  that  you  will  appreciate  the  importance  of  such  a  gathering, 
and  will  do  all  in  your  power  to  assist  us,  we  are 

Sincerely  yours, 

Chas.  A.  Dickinson, 

Pastor  Berkeley  Temple,  Boston. 

Chas.  L.  Thompson, 

Pastor  Madison  Avenue  Presbyterian 
Church. 

F.  M.  North, 

Secretary  New  York  City  Church 
Extension  and  Missionary  Society 
(Methodist) 


PROCEEDINGS. 


Tuesday,  March  27,  1894.— Morning  Session. 

In  pursuance  of  a  call  issued  by  the  Rev.  C.  A.  Dickinson, 
pastor  of  Berkeley  Temple,  Boston,  the  Rev.  Chas.  L.  Thomp- 
son, pastor  of  the  Madison  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church,  New 
York  City,  the  Rev.  F.  M.  North,  Corresponding  Secretary  of 
the  New  York  City  Church  Extension  and  Missionary  Society 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  about  fifty  ministers 
and  laymen  met  in  the  chapel  of  the  Madison  Avenue  Presby- 
terian Church  at  10  a.  m.  The  complete  roll  of  those  present 
during  the  conference  was  as  follows  :  — 

ROLL. 

Rev.  Chas.  A.  Dickinson,  Berkeley  Temple,  Boston 

Rev.  F.  M.  North, 

Corresponding  Secretary  of  New  York  City  Church  Extension 
and  Missionary  Society  of  the  M.  E.  Church. 
Rev.  C.  M.  Southgate, 

Pilgrim  Congregational  Church,  Worcester,  Mass. 
Rev.  Howard  Bliss,  Assistant  Pastor  Plymouth  Church,  Brooklyn 

Rev.  E.  R.  A.  Hiss,  Woodlawn  M.  E.  Church,  New  York  City 

Rev.  H.  B.  McCauley,        Fifth  Ave.  Presbyterian  Church,  Newark,  N.J. 
Rev.  S.  V.  V.  Holmes, 

Westminster  Presbyterian  Church,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

Rev.  J.  Freshman,  New  York  City 
Rev.  E.  H.  Sherwin, 

Associate  Pastor  23d  St.  Baptist  Church,  New  York  City 

Rev.  Donald  McClaren,  Chaplain  U.  S.  Navy,  New  York  City 

Rev.  Calvin  Derr,  First  Reformed  Church,  Spring  City,  Penn. 

Rev.  Geo.  W.  Cooke,  Follen  Church,  E.  Lexington,  Mass. 

Rev.  A.  L.  Shear,  Congregational,  Greenwich,  Conn. 


6 

Rev.  W.  C.  Stimson,  Plymouth  Congregational,  Providence,  R.  I 

Rev.  G.  P.  Mains, 

Superintendent  Brooklyn  Church  Society,  M.  E.,  Brooklyn 
Rev.  Joseph  Pullman,  First  M.  E.  Church,  Bridgeport,  Conn. 

John  Spier,  Layman,  Calvary  M.  E.  Church,  New  York  City 

Miss  Etta  Montgomery,  Mariners'  Temple,  New  York  City 

Rev.  Chas.  F.  Hersey,  City  Missionary,  New  Bedford,  Mass. 

Mr.  Henry  C.  Southworth, 

Madison  Ave.  Presbyterian  Church,  New  York  City 
Rev.  Chas.  L.  Thompson, 

Madison  Ave.  Presbyterian  Church,  New  York  City 
Rev.  Frank  Russell, 

South  Congregational  Church,  Bridgeport,  Conn. 
J.  A.  Fomer,  Christian  Israelite  Church,  New  York  City 

Rev.  Joseph  Vance,  Presbyterian,  Chester,  Penn. 

Rev.  John  L.  Scudder,  First  Congregational  Church, Jersey  City,  N.J. 
Rev.  John  L.  Campbell,  Lexington  Ave.  Baptist  Church,  New  York  City 
Rev.  S.  L.  Loomis,  Belleville  Ave.  Congregational,  Newark,  N.J. 

Rev.  C.  A.  Vincent,  First  Congregational,  Sandusky,  O. 

Rev.  Rufus  B.  Tobey,  Berkeley  Temple,  Boston 

Rev.  John  C.  Emery,  Waverly  Congregational  Church,  Jersey  City,  N J. 
Rev.  J.  G.  Snyder,  Olivet  Chapel,  Presbyterian,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Rev.  Asher  Anderson,  First  Congregational  Church,  Meriden,  Conn. 
Rev.  J.  C.  Thoms,  Mariners'  Temple,  New  York  City 

Rev.  W.  M.  Paden, 

Holland  Memorial  Presbyterian  Church,  Philadelphia 
Rev.  E.  L.  Fox,  East  nth  St.  M.  E.  Church,  New  York  City 

Rev.  Edward  Anderson,  Danielsonville,  Conn. 

Rev.  Josiah  Strong,  New  York  City 

Rev.  Clarence  Greely, 

Secretary  International  Law  and  Order  League 
Mr.  Wm.  E.  Dodge,  New  York  City 

Rev.  J.  H.  Hoadley,  Faith  Presbyterian  Church,  New  York  City 

Rev.  Robt.  Barber,  jvew  York  City 

Rev.  James  M.  Bruce, 

Associate  Pastor  Judson  Memorial  Baptist  Church,  New  York  City 
Rev.  Horace  Porter,  Brooklyn 

Rev.  James  R.  Day,  Calvary  M.  E.  Church,  New  York  City 


The  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  Rev.  Chas.  L.  Thomp- 
son, at  whose  request  Rev.  Edward  Anderson  offered  prayer. 
After  reading  an  appropriate  Scripture  lesson  and,  as  pastor  of 
the  church  and  one  of  the  signers  of  the  call,  extending  frater- 
nal greetings,  Rev.  Mr.  Thompson  asked  the  pleasure  of  the 
conference.  The  Rev.  Chas.  A.  Dickinson  was  thereupon  called 
to  the  chair,  the  Rev.  C.  A.  Vincent  was  chosen  secretary,  and 
the  roll  was  made  up. 

The  chairman  briefly  stated  his  conviction,  touching  the 
importance  of  the  convention ;  and  suggesting  that  the  order 
for  the  morning  exercises  be  an  informal  conference  con- 
cerning methods  of  work,  he  called  upon  the  Rev.  C.  M.  South- 
gate,  of  the  Pilgrim  Congregational  Church,  Worcester,  Mass. 

Mr.  Southgate  described  the  development  of  his  work  during  nine  years, 
from  a  little  upstairs  school  house  to  a  church  with  a  large  number  of 
departments  which  has  become  a  central  place  of  influence  to  a  large  com- 
munity. His  plan  is  never  to  start  a  department  without  some  person  or 
group  of  persons  who  will  make  it  a  special  work.  The  church  now 
embraces  in  its  Sunday  school  six  different  departments,  from  the  kinder- 
garten up  to  the  adult  Bible  class.  There  are,  besides,  three  Endeavor 
societies,  industrial  classes  for  girls  and  boys,  gymnasium,  men's  club, 
where  discussions,  semi-political  and  literary,  are  conducted,  a  printing 
outfit,  cadet  organization,  etc.  There  are  in  the  building  twenty-one  rooms. 
He  expects  some  one  to  be  the  head  and  heart  of  every  one  of  these  forms  of 
work.  This  he  believes  to  be  the  mission  of  the  Church  of  Christ.  He  finds 
no  difficulty  in  the  matter  of  financial  support.  Everything  pays  for  itself 
now,  though  the  amounts  needed  for  the  building  and  for  establishing  the 
work  were  originally  largely  provided  by  one  man.  The  present  property 
is  appraised  at  $120,000.  The  Sunday  school  is  the  largest  in  the  city.  The 
secret  of  the  success  lies  in  the  devotion  and  self-sacrifice  of  each  individual 
member. 

Rev.  Howard  Bliss,  assistant  pastor  of  Plymouth  Congregational  Church, 
Brooklyn,  spoke  of  the  many-sided  work  carried  on  in  the  various  branches 
of  that  church.  He  emphasized  the  value  of  the  work  among  the  sailors 
and  lodging-house  men.     The  organization  of  thirty  or  forty  ladies  and  gen- 


8 

tlemen  as  Friendly  Visitors  had  proved  a  remarkable  success.  This  visiting 
is  difficult  if  it  is  difficult  to  be  friendly,  easy  if  it  is  easy  to  be  friendly.  He 
had  found  the  Knights  of  King  Arthur,  an  order  started  in  Providence  by  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Forbush,  a  very  effective  agency  among  the  boys.  This  society 
avoids  some  of  the  military  features  of  the  Boys'  Brigade.  It  is  founded 
upon  the  principles  of  reverence,  purity,  and  temperance. 

The  Rev.  Edward  Anderson,  of  Danielsonville,  Conn.,  represented  his 
efforts  to  apply  broader  principles  to  the  work  of  a  typical  New  England 
village  church.  He  had  moved  in  the  direction  of  benefiting  the  community 
by  village  improvements,  —  parks,  fountains,  free  library,  etc.,  —  and  in 
securing  for  the  young  people  opportunities  for  physical  culture. 

The  Rev.  C.  L.  Thompson  spoke  briefly  of  the  development  of  the  Madison 
Avenue  Presbyterian  Church  as  a  free  church.  Two  years  ago  the  church 
was  simply  marking  time  —  paying  preacher,  sexton,  quartet,  etc.,  and  open 
three  hours  in  the  week.  He  visited  Berkeley  Temple  and  gained  some  ideas 
and  methods.  First  of  all,  the  church  was  made  a  free  church  —  the  principle 
of  absolute  equality  in  the  house  of  God  was  asserted.  The  church  has  a 
beautiful  chapel  on  the  east  side,  in  a  population  which  might  be  described 
as  the  sub-middle  class.  Here  various  kinds  of  work  are  organized.  The 
effort  is  constantly  made  to  keep  the  spiritual  idea  uppermost. 

Rev.  Joseph  Pullman,  of  the  First  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Bridge- 
port, Conn.,  described  the  transformation  of  the  church  in  New  Britain 
where  he  was  formerly  pastor,  from  a  small  frame  structure  with  rented  pews 
into  a  beautiful  and  commodious  stone  edifice  with  free  sittings.  The 
financial  gain  was  very  marked. 

Rev.  F.  M.  North,  of  New  York,  spoke  briefly  of  Calvary  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  of  which  he  was  the  first  pastor,  where  the  system  of 
free  sittings  has  obtained  from  the  outset.  The  present  edifice  has  the 
largest  church  auditorium  in  the  city,  and  the  income  from  voluntary  offer- 
ings is  over  eighteen  thousand  dollars  per  annum.  The  church  has  never 
known,  in  the  ten  years'  history,  a  "  deficiency  collection." 

Rev.  C.  F.  Hersey,  of  the  City  Mission,  New  Bedford,  Mass.,  spoke.  He 
had  been  formerly  connected  with  Berkeley  Temple.  In  a  former  charge 
in  the  country  had  been  able  to  turn  the  country  store  into  a  reading-room, 
and  the  loungers  into  readers.  Is  aiming  at  institutional  methods  in  connec- 
tion with  his  mission  work. 

Rev.  Rufus  B.  Tobey,  associate  pastor  of  Berkeley  Temple,  Boston,  spoke 
specially  of  the  relief  department  of  that  church.     He  said  that  the  growth 


of  the  work  had  been  such  that  while  six  years  ago  he  had  himself  been  able 
to  do  it  all,  it  now  requires  two  clerks,  two  messengers,  two  visitors,  and  a 
janitor.  The  people  about  the  church  belong  to  the  middle  class.  In  his 
judgment,  as  much  of  the  work  as  possible  should  be  done  within  the  four 
walls  of  the  church. 

Mr.  Henry  C.  Southworth  described  the  operation  of  the  Offertory 
Calendar  system  in  the  Madison  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church,  of  which  he 
is  treasurer. 

On  motion  it  was  determined  that  a  public  utterance  should 
be  prepared,  and  the  following  were  nominated  from  the  floor 
as  a  committee  for  that  purpose  :  C.  A.  Dickinson,  C.  L. 
Thompson,  F.  M.  North,  Frank  Russell,  J.  L.  Scudder. 

Adjournment  was  taken  at  12.30. 

During  the  recess  a  bountiful  lunch  was  served  by  the  ladies 
of  the  Madison  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church. 

Afternoon  Session. 

The  conference  was  resumed  at  2.15  p.m. 

Rev.  S.  L.  Loomis,  of  the  Belleville  Avenue  Congregational  Church, 
Newark,  N.  J.,  described  his  plan  for  interesting  the  young  men  of  his  con- 
gregation by  organizing  them  into  a  league  and  giving  them  special  respon- 
sibilities in  the  temporal  as  well  as  the  spiritual  affairs  of  the  church.  They 
have  charge  of  the  young  men's  Bible  class,  athletics,  look  after  repairs,  and 
raise  money  for  extra  expenses.     They  meet  every  week  for  reports,  etc. 

Rev.  W.  C.  Stimson,  of  the  Plymouth  Congregational  Church,  of  Provi- 
dence, stated  that  to  reach  the  men  he  had  established  the  Plymouth  Insti- 
tute upon  the  plan  of  the  Berkeley  Institute.  His  aim  is  to  get  at  the  work- 
ingmen.  Uses  large  posters  —  thirty  or  forty  —  scattered  throughout  the  city, 
announcing  subjects  and  meetings,  and  now  his  church  cannot  accommodate 
the  congregations.  He  intends  to  build  a  thorough-going  institutional 
church. 

Rev.  J.  V.  B.  Holmes,  of  Westminster  Presbyterian  Church,  Buff alo,  spoke 
confidently  of  the  practicability  of  the  free-pew  system.  His  experience  had 
covered  the  three  classes  of  churches, —  the  village,  the  down-town  city,  and 
the  rich  and  fashionable  city  church.  He  believes  that  institutional  work  is 
applicable  to  the  church  in  a  village  community.     He  introduced  the  free- 


10 

pew  system  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  Washington,  and  the  income 
was  increased  one  hundred  per  cent.  The  same  gain  obtains  in  his  present 
church  in  Buffalo,  where  the  same  system  is  adopted.  The  plan  includes 
assignment  of  sittings  to  regular  attendants,  but  without  the  idea  of  rental 
or  distinction  based  upon  a  money  consideration.  The  income  from  pew 
rents  had  been  $4,500  to  $5,000.  It  is  now,  by  voluntary  pledges,  nearly 
$10,000.     His  people  are  well  satisfied  with  the  plan. 

Rev.  Asher  Anderson,  of  the  First  Congregational  Church,  Meriden, 
Conn.,  expressed  strongly  his  convictions  in  favor  of  the  free-pew  system 
and  of  the  theory  of  church  work  as  implied  in  the  institutional  methods. 

Rev.  C.  A.  Vincent,  of  the  First  Congregational  Church,  Sandusky,  O., 
briefly  described  the  result  of  straightforward  gospel  preaching  and  careful 
organization  in  developing  his  church  from  a  very  inactive  condition  to 
vigorous  life.  The  pews  are  free,  all  except  the  rear  seats.  He  lays  great 
stress  upon  an  evangelistic  service  on  Sunday  evening. 

Rev.  Geo.  P.  Mains,  superintendent  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
Society  of  Brooklyn,  strongly  emphasized  the  obligation  resting  upon  the 
church  to  provide  for  the  religiously  neglected  population  of  our  large  cities. 
He  believed  that  institutional  churches  in  such  cases  must  be  founded  upon 
a  broader  basis  of  financial  support  than  is  now  deemed  necessary.  He 
favored  large  endowments  so  used  as  not  to  pauperize  the  people.  He  had 
hope  that  Brooklyn  might  have  soon,  under  Methodist  auspices,  one  of  the 
best-planted  and  most  adequately  endowed  institutional  churches  which 
could  be  built. 

Rev.  J.  C.  Thorns,  of  the  Mariners'  Temple  (Baptist),  New  York,  reported 
great  activity  in  all  lines  among  the  foreigners  and  degraded  population  who 
centre  about  Chatham  Square.  In  his  church  are  coffee  places,  a  cobbler's 
corner,  kitchen  and  laundry,  printing-room,  gymnasium,  kindergarten,  girls' 
industrial  classes,  reading-room  for  men,  sewing-rooms,  bath-room  for 
women,  dispensary.  There  is  some  sort  of  religious  service  every  day  in 
the  year.  All  classes  come,  Jews,  Italians  —  sometimes  seven  or  eight 
languages  are  represented. 

Rev.  J.  C.  Emery,  of  the  Waverly  Congregational  Church,  Jersey  City 
Heights,  urged  the  importance  of  parish  visitation  as  represented  in  the 
results  in  his  own  work.  At  his  church  he  found  that  it  had  been  for  seven 
years  sacrificed  to  its  pulpit.  He  declared  at  the  outset  for  free  pews, 
entered  at  once  upon  institutional  work.  Has  now  a  gymnasium,  bowling 
alley,  an  athletic  and  literary  club,  with  one  condition,  that  the  members 


11 

shall  form  a  Bible  class,  conducted  by  the  pastor,  to  meet  each  Sunday. 
The  income  was  formerly  each  year  $700  or  $800  behind.  It  is  now  ahead, 
and  a  $25,000  mortgage  is  being  paid  off. 

Rev.  F.  M.  North  stated  that  in  the  society  he  represented  the  effort  was 
being  made  to  use  institutional  methods  as  far  as  possible.  He  held  that  the 
gospel  means  ministry.  While  there  is  no  strictly  institutional  church 
among  the  twenty-four  under  the  society's  care,  he  believed  the  time  for 
one  or  perhaps  two  was  near  at  hand.  With  but  one  or  two  exceptions  all 
these  churches  have  free  seats. 

Rev.  Ernest  L.  Fox,  of  the  Eleventh  Street  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
New  York,  spoke  of  the  increasing  hold  obtained  upon  a  non-church-going 
community  by  means  of  the  kindergarten,  Boys'  Brigade,  mothers'  meetings, 
sewing-classes  for  girls,  relief  work,  etc.  In  his  work  the  humanitarian  side 
was  emphasized,  but  the  real  ends  were  spiritual. 

Rev.  J.  L.  Scudder,  of  the  First  Congregational  Church  of  Jersey  City, 
represented  the  work  of  the  People's  Tabernacle.  It  is  almost  entirely  pre- 
ventive as  distinguished  from  rescue  work.  Ninety  per  cent  of  the  tramps 
are  not  convertible.  They  should  in  some  way  pay  for  what  they  get.  His 
church  is  in  the  midst  of  very  bad  surroundings,  —  saloons,  etc.  The  aim, 
to  provide  some  substitute  for  vicious  amusements.  Started  a  reading-room, 
which  proved  a  dead  failure.  Then  he  tried  the  bowling  alley.  He  related 
how  the  opposition  of  his  deacons  was  overcome.  The  place  was  crowded 
in  three  months.  Then  were  provided  billiard  and  pool  tables,  and  later  a 
first-rate  stage.  His  church  is  full.  There  are  now  a  society  of  Christian 
Endeavor,  two  gymnasiums,  a  skating  rink,  military  drill,  a  day  nursery,  kin- 
dergarten. Articles  of  clothing  are  made  and  sold  at  low  prices  to  the  poor. 
The  church  has  no  endowment,  and  the  great  strain  is  that  of  raising  money 
to  maintain  the  work. 

Rev.  W.  M.  Paden,  of  the  Holland  Memorial  Presbyterian  Church,  Phila- 
delphia, said  that  he  had  found  his  church  already  educated  in  the  free 
system,  and  it  had  educated  him.  It  was  "free  born."  It  was  never  in  debt. 
Its  present  income  is  $9,000,  received  from  voluntary  offerings. 

Rev.  Clarence  Greeley,  secretary  of  the  National  Law  and  Order  League, 
spoke  briefly  of  the  relation  of  the  Church  to  the  civic  interests  of  the 
country. 

Rev.  Josiah  Strong,  secretary  of  the  Evangelical  Alliance,  expressed  his 
hearty  interest  in  the  subject  matter  of  the  conference. 


12 

On  motion  the  convention  proceeded  to  effect  a  permanent 
organization. 

The  committee  on  a  public  utterance  presented  through  its 
chairman,  Rev.  C.  A.  Dickinson,  the  platform,  which,  after 
one  or  two  slight  amendments,  was  adopted. 

The  same  committee  was  appointed  to  prepare  a  form  of 
constitution  to  be  presented  at  a  later  stage  of  the  meeting. 

A  resolution  of  thanks  for  the  kind  hospitality  offered  to  the 
convention  by  the  Madison  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church,  and 
especially  by  the  ladies  in  providing  and  serving  lunch,  was 
unanimously  adopted. 

Upon  motion  Rev.  J.  L.  Scudder  addressed  the  convention 
at  length  upon  "The  Evening  Service." 

The  Rev.  George  W.  Cooke  spoke  upon  "  The  Institutional 
Church  in  Country  Communities,"  Rev.  Howard  Bliss  upon 
"  The  Knights  of  King  Arthur,"  and  Rev.  R.  B.  Tobey  upon 
"Church  Ministration." 

The  committee  on  organization  presented  the  following 
provisional  constitution,  which  was  adopted. 

PROVISIONAL    CONSTITUTION. 

Article  I. — Name. 
The  name  of  this  organization  shall  be  The  Open  or  Institutional  Church 
League. 

Article  II. 
The  object  of  this  league  shall  be  to  form  a  bond  of  union  between  open 
or  institutional  churches,  to  extend  the  principles  and  work  for  which  they 
stand  as  expressed  in  the  platform.    (See  supra). 

Article  III. 
The  officers  shall    be  a  President,  Vice-President,  and    Secretary  (who 
shall  also  act  as  Treasurer).    These,  with  two  others,  shall  constitute  an 
Executive  Committee. 


13 


Article  IV. 
Any  church  may  be  represented  by  its  pastor  or  pastors,  and  one  or  more 
lay  members.    Any  minister,  not  a  pastor,  interested  in  this  work  may  also 
become  a  member  of  this  league. 

Article  V. 
Membership  shall  consist  in  the  acceptance  of  this  constitution,  and  the 
annual  payment  of  one  dollar. 

Article  VI. 
The  leagues  shall  meet  annually  on  the  last  Tuesday  of  October. 


14 


PLATFORM 


Open  or  Institutional  Church  League. 


15 


ADDRESSES. 


Afternoon  Session. 

Address  by  Rev.  J.  L.  Scudder,  D.D. 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Brethren  :  — 

I  could  have  come  here  with  a  written  discourse  an  hour  in  length,  and 
would  have  given  it  to  you,  but  I  thought  that  we  had  come  here  to  discuss 
these  subjects  in  an  informal  way.  I  will  run  over  the  questions  I  have,  and 
not  enlarge  upon  them  —  I  will  leave  the  audience  to  do  that.  I  will  just 
run  over  them,  as  a  water-spider  glides  over  the  water;  I  will  just  give  the 
points. 

It  is  increasingly  difficult  to  bring  people  to  church  in  this  age,  and  it 
appears  to  be  more  and  more  difficult  as  the  years  roll  by,  both  in  regard  to 
the  evening  service  and  the  morning  service.  I  will  give  you  what  I  believe 
to  be  the  reasons  for  this. 

I  believe  there  is  a  growing  spirit  of  irreverence,  inattention  to  all  church 
work,  and  a  growing  spirit  of  infidelity.  Under  such  circumstances,  it 
becomes  more  difficult  for  people  to  go  to  church.  Let  me  give  you  some 
points.  I  believe  the  age  of  force  and  threatening  has  forever  passed  out 
of  the  religious  world.  Neither  do  people  believe  in  the  authority  of  the 
Church  as  they  did.  Even  Romanists,  who  have  always  been  most  loyal,  are 
beginning  to  question  the  authority  of  their  own  church,  and  a  great  many 
people  today  believe  that  the  Church  is  nothing  more  than  a  congregation  of 
individuals,  who  believe  in  doing  good,  and  that  the  cause  of  the  existence 
of  the  Church  is  the  affinity  which  brings  these  people  together.  They  would 
join  any  society,  the  mission  of  which  is  to  do  good,  and  hence  they  unite 
with  the  Church.  A  great  many  believe  in  that  way.  Furthermore,  the 
creeds  —  the  doctrines  of  our  Christianity  —  are  called  in  question.  I  do  not 
refer  now  to  the  few  fundamental  doctrines,  —  the  immortal  existence  of 
God,  and  Christ  as  the  atoner,  the  one  that  brings  men  to  God.  The  great 
mass  of  Christians  you  find  in  churches  today,  I  think,  and  intelligent  men, 
will  not  question  that  statement.  People  in  this  age  have  very  little  regard 
for  the  clergyman's  office.     If  the  clergyman,  as  a  man,  has  the  spirit  of  the 


16 

Lord  in  him,  and  is  filled  with  love  for  his  fellow-men,  he  will  be  respected, 
never  mind  his  cloth.  I  believe  that  is  the  right  basis  upon  which  every 
man  should  be  respected.  I  do  not  think  much  of  the  office,  as  an  office, 
myself.  It  makes  no  difference  whether  a  man  be  a  clergyman,  or  a  layman, 
or  a  member  of  the  congregation,  if  he  has  intelligence,  and  a  love  for  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  for  his  fellow-men,  and  is  placed  within  the  pulpit 
to  offer  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  to  his  fellow-men.  Under  such  circumstances, 
the  preaching  will  be  powerful,  and  attract  the  people,  and  if  it  attracts 
them,  will  make  for  the  well-being  of  the  community. 

I  say  we  are  in  a  transitional  period.  This  condition  of  the  people  affects 
both  morning  and  evening  service,  the  men  and  the  women,  and  that  condi- 
tion is  affected  by  the  existence  of  the  Sunday  newspaper.  It  has  come  to 
stay,  we  cannot  eradicate  it,  therefore  we  must  look  the  inevitable  in  the 
face.  I  am  glad  to  see  one  benefit  from  the  Sunday  newspaper.  It  intro- 
duces the  quality,  the  element  of  competition,  that  we  did  not  have  before. 
Competition  is  a  good  thing,  even  in  the  Church  of  God.  A  man  might  be  a 
blockhead,  a  dunce,  years  ago,  and  just  from  the  spirit  of  reverence  for  his 
office,  he  might  preach  a  homily  an  hour  and  a  half  in  length,  and  people 
would  listen  to  him.  The  more  stupid  he  was,  long  years  ago,  the  more  the 
people  came  to  listen  to  him.  Two  hundred  years  ago  Scotch  people  lis- 
tened to  sermons  two  hours  in  length.  That  day  is  gone ;  the  average  man 
must  believe  that  the  minister  has  something  to  say,  or  he  will  stay  at  home 
and  read  the  Sunday  paper,  and  snap  his  fingers  at  the  minister's  discourse. 
He  would  rather  stay  at  home  and  read  the  Sunday  paper.  Under  these 
circumstances,  how  can  we  attract  the  people  to  the  house  of  God  ? 

Many  people  do  not  care  for  two  services  ;  they  say,  "  One  service  a  day 
is  enough.  Is  there  any  rule  in  the  Scripture  that  will  compel  us  to  goto  the 
house  of  God  twice  a  day  ?  No,  if  we  go  to  the  morning  service,  and  take  the 
children  to  the  Sabbath  school,  why  not  have  the  rest  of  the  day  for  a  social 
time,  for  a  family  time,  and  read  useful  books  ;  what  is  the  use  of  going  to 
church  twice?"  A  great  many  cultivated  people  feel  that  way.  In  the 
up-town  churches,  where  the  better  classes  go,  the  evening  service  is  a  very 
weak  service  as  a  rule.    What  shall  we  do  with  such  churches  ? 

A  good  thing  would  be  to  shut  up  those  churches,  and  let  those  who  have 
superabundant  Christianity  in  them  go  to  make  live  down-town  churches. 
Labor  and  capital  are  drifting  further  and  further  away  from  each  other 
every  year.  There  are  two  classes  of  churches,  the  rich  man's  church  and 
the  poor  man's  church ;  as  a  rule,  the  up-town  church  for  the  wealthy,  the 


17 

down-town  church  for  the  poor  people.  The  question  to  discuss  now  is  not 
how  to  make  the  up-town  churches  a  success,  it  is  not  a  question  if  they  can 
be  made  so  up  town,  with  the  rich  people.  The  poor  people  will  not  come 
up  town,  where  so  often  they  are  not  wanted.  I  don't  know  what  to  do  with 
such  a  service.  Take  the  middle-class  church,  or  the  lower  class  of  people, — 
the  poor,  however,  are  not  necessarily  the  lower  class  of  people, —  how  shall 
we  make  the  evening  service  interesting  to  them  ? 

In  the  first  place,  have  a  great  deal  of  music,  and  it  must  be  varied. 
Variety  is  not  only  the  spice  of  life,  but  of  religion.  We  all  like  variety,  con- 
sequently we  should  have  as  many  different  kinds  of  music  in  the  church  as 
possible.  Have  the  solo,  the  duet,  the  trio,  the  quartet,  the  chorus,  and  dif- 
erent  instruments  of  music  there,  as  far  as  we  can.  The  more  of  this  music 
we  have,  the  greater  variety,  the  more  people  do  we  attract.  A  great  many 
people  go  to  church  to  listen  to  the  music.  If  we  can  bring  them  to  the 
church  through  the  music,  let  us  have  all  the  music  we  can.  I  believe  the 
greater  variety  we  have  in  this  music,  the  larger  number  we  shall  have  at  the 
services.  In  the  meetings  of  the  Salvation  Army,  they  have  a  great  variety. 
Instead  of  one  man  doing  all  the  talking,  perhaps,  during  the  evening,  thirty 
or  forty  will  take  prominent  parts ;  not  from  the  congregation,  but  from 
the  ministering  brethren  and  sisters.  There  they  study  the  element  of 
variety,  and  therefore  it  is  that  they  get  the  crowds  there,  competing  with 
the  more  formal,  dignified  churches  in  the  down-town  districts  today.  It  is  a 
question  whether  we  would  better  imitate  them  to  a  certain  extent. 

There  is  also,  competing  with  the  church  service  in  the  evening,  the  Sun- 
day concert.  They  have  magnificent  music  at  these  evening  concerts.  We 
cannot  stop  them  ;  there  is  no  sin  in  it.  I  should  like  to  see  this  music  intro- 
duced into  the  Church  of  God,  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  coupled  with  it. 
Can  the  average  church  compete  with  the  great  concert  of  the  music  hall  ? 
It  cannot. 

Small  competing  churches  belonging  to  different  denominations  must 
coalesce.  They  say,  "  It  is  ridiculous  for  us  to  try  to  do  our  work  in  this 
small,  meagre  way."  The  time  will  come  when  they  will  combine.  They 
will  have  one  man  to  do  the  preaching,  one  to  manage  the  plant,  one  to 
secure  the  funds  to  operate  this  church.  Everything  is  done  by  large  cor- 
porations down  town.  If  you  are  going  to  compete  with  the  variety,  the 
excellence  of  the  music  at  the  Sunday  concerts,  you  must  have  it  in  your 
churches,  or  the  people  will  go  the  other  way. 

In  regard  to  preaching.     The  minister  should  be  sure  not  to  preach  over 


18 


half  an  hour,  but  a  sermon  of  twenty-five  minutes  is  better.  The  preaching 
should  be  very  practical.  The  preaching  should  be  of  such  a  character 
that  it  will  take  Christianity  into  every  part  of  human  life.  If  it  brings  the 
love  of  Jesus  Christ  into  every  branch  of  human  activity  it  will  be  interesting 
to  the  people,  because  they  are  interested  in  these  various  departments  of 
life.  I  believe  the  preaching  of  this  age  should  enter  into  reform  move- 
ments, political  movements.  I  believe  the  reason  we  have  secured  what  we 
have  in  New  Jersey  is  because  the  pulpits  there  are  alive  on  political  ques- 
tions. Variety  is  good,  and  at  least  we  can  feel  that  the  pulpit  has  done  its 
duty.  Though  I  am  a  clergyman,  I  am  also  a  citizen ;  and  as  long  as  I  am  a 
citizen,  if  anything  goes  wrong  I  shall  strike  it  from  the  pulpit ;  I  have  a 
right  to  do  it ;  my  people  enjoy  it. 

Illustrated  preaching  is  good.  Do  all  the  illustrated  preaching  you  can. 
The  poorer  classes  cannot  understand  the  preaching  of  today.  It  is  not 
concrete.  It  is  not  the  method  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  was  very  simple;  it 
was  conversational  preaching.  He  used  illustrations  from  every  branch  of 
life.  This  illustrative  form  appears  again  and  again  in  the  New  Testament. 
The  illustrations  should  be  progressive.  The  spirit  of  God  is  in  us,  just  as 
much  as  it  was  in  the  apostles.  The  spirit  of  God  is  in  us  just  as  much  as  in 
those  who  wrote  the  Bible.  We  have  just  as  much  authority, —  the  Christian 
Endeavor  Society,  and  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  —  God's 
spirit  is  in  us,  just  as  much  as  it  was  in  Peter  and  Paul.  Let  the  people 
know  that  we  are  progressive,  abreast  of  the  age,  —  that  God's  spirit  is  not 
taken  away  from  the  people  of  this  age.  Not  a  bit  of  it.  Progressive, 
abreast  of  the  age,  receptive  of  all  truth,  from  whatever  source  that  truth 
comes.  But  we  want  open-minded,  broad  preaching ;  in  this  way  the  people 
will  listen  to  us.  Many  of  the  people  are  just  as  intelligent  as  the  man  in  the 
pulpit. 

The  preacher  should  be  as  original  in  the  pulpit  as  he  can  be,  and  as 
spicy.  There  is  no  reason  why  the  child  of  God  should  be  stupid.  If  God 
has  given  me  wit,  let  me  use  it  in  the  pulpit.  The  revivalists  use  it.  We 
should  be  a  little  more  dramatic.  We  are  too  dignified  in  our  methods.  I 
am  not  dramatic  in  my  method,  I  think  a  little  more  of  that  would  be  very 
interesting.  I  learned  a  great  deal  from  a  man  from  Boston,  a  Mr.  Roberts, 
lately,  in  regard  to  the  presenting  of  His  truth.  I  believe  we  shall  accom- 
plish more  by  being  a  little  dramatic. 

Be  free  from  cant ;  people  hate  it.  Let  us  be  perfectly  natural,  and, 
lastly,  let  us  be  heartily,  thoroughly  spiritual  in  all  we  do,  thoroughly  evan- 


19 

gelistic.  As  we  go  more  and  more  into  the  secular  branches  of  the  worki 
may  we  feel  the  necessity  of  pushing  the  spiritual  to  the  front,  more  and 
more  developing  practically  into  the  Methodist  church.  After  service, 
bring  the  people  right  up  to  the  front ;  bring  the  people  to  God.  We  Con- 
gregationalists  and  Presbyterians  have  forgotten  all  about  that.  If  God  has 
given  you  a  crowded  house,  and  out  of  one  thousand  or  fourteen  hundred 
people,  half  of  them  are  not  converted,  you  are  not  doing  your  duty  if  you 
don't  ask  them  to  come — to  come  to  Christ.  I  am  becoming  a  revivalist. 
It  is  very  hard  for  me.  I  was  brought  up  in  the  Congregationalist  church- 
I  say,  as  I  have  heard  my  father  say,  "  I  was  not  brought  up  to  revivalists' 
work,  I  do  not  know  how  to  do  it." 

Let  us  be  unconventional  in  our  Sunday  night  meetings;  make  the  people 
feel  as  free  as  they  would  at  a  concert.  When  they  come  in,  before  service, 
why  should  they  not  talk  in  a  free,  pleasant  manner  ?  Make  them  feel  that 
the  Church  is  a  grand  brotherhood.  The  atmosphere  of  brotherhood  should 
be  in  the  Church,  that  has  not  been  there  before.  We  are  trying  to  realize 
that.  I  have  not  time  to  dwell  on  that  thought  now.  We  should  be  per- 
fectly natural,  love  our  fellow-men,  and  make  the  people  feel  that  the  Church 
is  a  home,  a  grand  brotherhood ;  that  is  just  what  has  been  said  about  the 
Odd  Fellow's  League.  People  ought  to  be  linked  together  in  the  Church. 
We  must  make  the  people  feel  that  we  are  in  full  sympathy  with  them  in 
every  department  of  life.  Make  the  Church  the  centre  of  social  life,  and  it 
will  affect  the  audiences. 

When  I  went  to  Jersey  City,  there  were  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  mem- 
bers in  the  church ;  now  it  is  the  largest  church  of  our  order,  but  one,  and 
that  has  eight  or  ten  more  members ;  however,  after  our  next  communion, 
when  we  shall  receive  from  one  hundred  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  new  mem- 
bers, ours  will  be  the  largest  church  of  our  order  in  the  city. 

What  has  produced  this?  The  preaching?  No,  I  don't  claim  to  be 
much  of  a  preacher.  Our  work  among  boys  is  inducing  them  to  come  to 
Sunday  evening  service  as  nothing  ever  did  before.  A  young  man,  whose 
business  it  is  to  examine  the  Sunday  schools  in  the  State,  came  to  me  while 
the  children  were  reciting  their  lesson,  and  said  to  me,  "  It  is  a  very  rare 
occurrence,  but  I  see  that  there  are  more  boys  than  women  or  girls  in  your 
Sunday  school."  I  said  I  had  not  thought  of  it  before,  but  on  looking 
around,  I  saw  that  it  was  so.  "  How  do  you  account  for  it?"  he  asked. 
I  said,  "  After  Sunday  school,  I  will  take  you  through  the  rooms  here."  At 
the  close  of  the  service,  I  showed  him  the  gymnasium,  the  bowling  and  ten- 


20 

pin  alleys,  the  billiard  and  pool  tables,  and  he  said,  "  I  see,  you  have  come 
in  touch  with  the  people."  It  is  an  oasis  in  the  desert.  They  like  to 
come  to  the  oasis,  and  get  away  from  the  desert.  The  saloon  charges 
forty  cents  for  a  game  of  billiards,  we  charge  twenty  ;  they  charge  ten  cents 
for  a  game  of  ten  pins,  we  charge  five.  We  took  in  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  members  in  the  last  six  weeks.  They  are  wearing  the  steps  out 
—  the  number  that  go  over  them.  If  God  would  give  us  money,  we  could 
have  an  institution  there  eight  stories  high,  and  fill  it  every  night.  A  young 
man  came  to  me  sometime  ago,  the  first  day  of  the  year.  He  had  been  in 
the  habit  of  drinking  a  good  deal.  I  believe  in  getting  hold  of  those  fellows ; 
I  do  it  as  much  as  I  can,  but  I  have  to  make  my  assistant  pastor  do  most 
of  that  work.  This  young  man  said  to  me,  "  I  want  to  see  you."  "  Very 
well,"  I  said,  "  I  will  go  with  you."  He  said,  "  This  is  the  first  day  of  the 
year.  I  am  so  happy  I  don't  know  what  to  do  with  myself."  "  Every 
child  of  God  should  be.  Are  you  a  child  of  God  ?  "  He  said,  "  I  gave  my 
soul  to  God  yesterday.  I  am  so  happy,  bowling  alleys  ain't  in  it."  I  prayed 
with  him.  From  bowling  alley  to  prayer ;  the  two  things  go  together.  I 
said,  "  Brother,  tell  me  how  this  thing  came  about."  He  said,  "  It  all  came 
through  the  bowling  alley."  That  is  what  some  good  old  saints  would  like 
to  hear  about.  He  continued,  "  I  was  a  profligate  young  fellow,  but  I  knew 
I  could  come  in  here  and  have  fun,  and  cheaper  than  the  saloon  could  give. 
I  became  acquainted  with  your  young  men,  touched  elbows  with  them. 
'  Now,  then,'  one  of  them  said,  'don't  you  go  to  church?'  'No!  don't 
believe  in  it.'  He  said,  '  Come  with  me  some  night.'  I  drifted  into  the 
church  through  him.  I  played  ten  pins  with  him,  was  invited  to  the  church. 
I  went,  listened  to  the  practical  discourse.  I  went  again  and  again,  and  the 
last  day  of  the  year  I  gave  my  soul  to  God;  through  the  ten-pin  alley,  I  was 
brought  to  Christ."  The  clerk  of  my  church  today  is  a  young  man,  twenty- 
six  years  of  age,  who,  four  years  ago,  scarcely  ever  went  to  church.  If  you 
came  to  my  church  now,  you  would  have  to  give  your  letter  to  him.  A  large 
number  come  from  the  annex  —  almost  any  Sunday  night  we  have  from  two 
to  three  hundred  young  men.  It  is  a  great  feeder  to  the  church.  It  fills  up 
the  evening  service.  It  gives  good  will ;  it  is  doing  God's  work.  The  young 
men  say,  "  We  will  go  to  such  a  church  as  that."  The  result  is  that  more 
than  half  our  audience  is  composed  of  young  people,  Sunday  nights.  It  is 
not  the  preaching  only,  it  is  not  the  singing,  nor  the  instrumental  music ;  it 
is  the  touching  elbows  with  them  every  day  in  the  week,  doing  anything 
they  want  us  to  do  that  will  lift  them  up. 


21 

We  do  not  insist  upon  the  young  men  coming  into  the  church  or  prayer 
meeting.  We  say,  "  You  need  not  be  afraid  we  will  run  you  into  the  prayer 
meeting."  That  goes  further  than  saying,  "  This  must  be  closed  up  ;  we  are 
going  to  have  prayer  meeting,  and  those  who  don't  want  to  go  to  it  must  go 
out  into  the  street."  We  must  do  things  naturally,  treat  them  like  men.  Lots 
of  them  will  be  converted.  This  bears  on  evening  service.  I  have  no  doubt 
three  or  four  hundred  have  been  attracted  by  what  we  do  the  other  nights 
of  the  week.  If  every  church  were  like  this,  the  churches  being  scattered  all 
over  the  city,  we  would  strike  the  saloon  the  greatest  blow  that  ever  was 
heard  of.  When  I  was  in  Minneapolis  two  women  from  the  Women's 
Christian  Temperance  Union  came  to  me  and  said,  "  Don't  you  think  it 
would  be  a  good  thing  to  start  a  prayer  meeting  in  Central  Avenue  ?  "  "  No, 
sisters,"  I  said,  "that  is  not  the  thing  for  you  to  do;  start  an  amusement 
hall,  and  charge  one  half  what  the  saloon  does."  They  went  out  of  my 
house  as  if  they  thought  I  was  with  the  devil.  Three  years  ago  Frances 
Willard  wrote  me  a  letter,  saying, "  I  have  studied  that  work ;  I  believe  in  it. 
We  all  believe  in  it.  We  are  going  to  make  it  a  department  of  the  Christian 
Temperance  work."  Renounced  five  years  ago,  two  years  later  Frances 
Willard  writes,  "  We  adopt  this  system."  The  Christian  churches  will 
adopt  it.  I  am  going  to  Tarrytown  to  talk  to  three  or  four  churches  there 
that  will  probably  adopt  it.    Smoking,  drinking,  and  dancing  are  eliminated. 


Address  by  Rev.  Rufus  B.  Tobey. 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Brethren  :  — 

I  have  been  asked  to  speak  a  few  words  along  the  line  of  church  minis- 
tration. I  think  it  might  be  a  helpful  topic  here,  because  by  virtue  of 
co-operation  we  have  been  able  to  perfect  our  work  in  the  city  of  Boston. 

We  saw  at  the  very  beginning  our  difficulty  would  be  that  we  should  not 
have  enough  in  the  way  of  resources  to  meet  all  the  demands  made  upon  us, 
and  were  at  great  pains  in  instituting  a  series  of  investigations,  to  see  just 
where  we  could  place  the  different  cases,  which  we  could  not,  of  ourselves, 
handle.  We  felt,  at  the  outset,  that  we  were  looked  upon  with  distrust,  first  by 
the  Associated  Charities,  and  by  the  regular  organizations  that  dispensed 
charity  and  philanthropy  in  different  parts  of  the  city.  I  found  that  by 
working  in  a  quiet  way,  and  by  using  all  the  influence  we  could  get  from 
friends  in  Boston,  we  were  able  to  touch  about  every  organization  in  the 


22 

city,  and  today  hardly  a  case  can  be  laid  down  in  our  church  office  that  we 
cannot  handle.  For  instance,  if  you  come  tomorrow  with  the  case  of  a 
man  marked  with  death  from  consumption,  I  can  find  a  Consumptives' 
Home  for  him,  without  money  and  without  price,  and  he  will  be  received 
there,  and  tenderly  cared  for  until  he  passes  away. 

If  there  is  any  trouble  in  a  family,  through  the  drinking  habits  of  one  or 
both  of  the  parents,  we  do  not  like  to  break  up  the  family,  and  separate 
them  entirely,  but  the  man  is  taken  care  of  in  one  way,  the  woman  in 
another,  and  the  children  looked  out  for,  until  they  can  be  re-united.  I  have 
had  the  pleasure,  within  two  or  three  days,  of  bringing  together  the  family 
of  a  bright  business  man  who  was  going  down  to  death  from  drink,  who  is 
now  restored  to  his  wife  and  children,  in  a  happy  home.  Let  me  say,  in  the 
first  place,  that  we  have  a  set  of  physicians  whose  services  are  always  avail- 
able. If  there  are  cases  that  cannot  go  to  the  hospitals  or  dispensaries,  we 
can  send  one  of  these  to  the  homes.  A  Roman  Catholic  lady  physician  is 
one  of  our  best  workers,  standing  with  us  on  a  broad  platform  of  practical 
sympathy. 

If  a  case  is  peculiar  or  chronic,  or  needs  hospital  treatment,  we  have  no 
difficulty  in  getting  such  into  one  of  the  hospitals  of  the  city. 

The  idea  prevails  that  in  a  church  like  ours  we  do  more  in  the  way  of 
material  assistance  than  in  any  other  way.  It  is  not  true.  First  of  all,  we 
secure  work  whenever  we  can  for  those  in  need.  In  the  second  place,  there 
are  those  who  need  to  be  tided  over  crises,  and  by  watching  these  people, 
and  finding  out  when  their  need  is  most  imminent,  we  can  help  them.  They 
come,  by  and  by,  to  a  position  of  self-support.  In  scores  of  instances,  there 
are  cases  where  people  have  certain  rights.  A  lady  living  near  our  church 
came  and  confessed  that  she  needed  fuel.  It  was  the  first  time  she  had 
needed  assistance.  She  said,  "  I  have  a  pension  claim  pending."  I  said, 
"  Perhaps  we  can  push  that."  With  the  assistance  at  hand  we  succeeded  in 
getting  the  pension  granted,  and  not  long  after  I  met  her  as  she  was 
about  to  deposit  six  or  seven  hundred  dollars  in  the  bank,  and  she  had  her 
pension  quarterly,  beside.  There  are  many  other  instances  where  we  have 
been  able  to  secure  rights  for  people.  One  young  man  was  being  kept  out 
of  his  portion  of  his  father's  estate  —  $15,000.  No  lawyer  would  take  the  case 
without  a  large  fee.  We  found  a  lawyer  whom  we  interested  in  the  matter, 
and  he  succeeded  in  winning  the  case  and  charged  the  ordinary  lawyer's  fee. 

A  guardian  needs  to  be  appointed  for  a  child,  or  for  an  insane  soldier, 
who  is  squandering  his  money.     I  am  now  guardian  of  two  veterans,  one  old 


23 


enough  to  be  my  grandfather.  I  am  also  the  guardian  of  twelve  children. 
One  girl,  fifteen  years  old,  is  in  a  house  of  ill  fame.  She  is  under  the  age  of 
consent  in  Massachusetts,  but  her  parents  have  tried  in  vain  to  get  her  out. 
I  am  positive  that  I  shall  secure  her,  and  take  her  back  to  her  parents.  We 
took  the  case  once  of  a  soldier's  widow  and  two  children  on  the  point  of 
being  pauperized.  I  happened,  about  the  same  time,  to  enter  the  office  of 
the  president  of  a  charitable  organization,  and  on  incidentally  telling  the 
secretary  that  I  had  been  compelled  to  place  the  family  in  the  hands  of  the 
Overseers  of  the  Poor,  he  said,  "  Cannot  we  take  hold  of  this  case,  and  carry 
it  along  ? " 

Another  thing  I  want  to  speak  about;  viz.,  that  with  all  this  comes  the 
personal  touch.  Here  is  an  illustration  of  what  I  mean.  We  insisted  from 
the  outset  that  even  one  who  bore  on  his  face  the  evidence  of  fraud  should 
be  bowed  out  of  the  church.  We  have  never  had  any  trouble.  Last  winter 
we  started  a  work-room  and  employed  one  hundred  and  fifty  women,  and 
when  we  could  take  on  no  more  my  superintendent  told  me  that  the  women 
who  came,  and  were  dismissed,  thanked  her  for  dismissing  them  so  gra- 
ciously ;  they  were  grateful  for  a  kind  word.  We  try  to  keep  the  perfunctory 
way  of  doing  things  out  of  sight,  and  introduce  personal  sympathy  and  inter- 
est as  much  as  we  can.  Finally,  we  don't  have  to  stir  up  the  people  to  enter- 
the  church.  The  current  is  started  early  in  the  week,  and  with  our  attractive 
Sunday  services  our  congregations  fill  the  church.  A  good  proportion  of 
our  church  members  are  people  who  have  been  persuaded  to  unite  with  us 
because  of  what  may  be  termed  the  unique  features  of  the  institutional 
church. 


Address  by  Rev.  H.  S.  Bliss. 

After  speaking  of  work  among  the  sailors  and  the  lodging-houses, 
Rev.  H.  S.  Bliss,  of  Plymouth  Church,  Brooklyn,  referred  to  the 
relief  work  of  the  winter.     He  spoke  as  follows  :  — 

The  past  winter  has  offered  a  remarkable  opportunity  to  our  churches  to 
illustrate  the  central  idea  of  the  institutional  church, —  the  spirit  of  ministra 
tion, —  in  meeting  some  of  the  serious  and  pressing  problems  arising  from 
the  prevailing  distress.  A  few  words  as  to  what  has  been  done  in  Plymouth 
Church  along  these  lines  may  be  helpful. 

We  were  early  convinced  that  our  efforts  must  extend  far  beyond  the  limits 


24 

of  our  own  church  membership  if  we  were  to  reach  the  pressing  needs  of  our 
community.  A  band  of  Friendly  Visitors  was  organized,  who  were  to  care 
for  the  cases  outside  these  church  limits.  A  definite  geographical  territory 
was  marked  out,  within  whose  boundaries  we  proposed  to  do  our  work  of 
relief.  The  Bureau  of  Charities  was  asked  to  send  to  us  all  of  their  cases 
coming  within  these  boundaries. 

Several  of  our  Friendly  Visitors  were  instructed  to  undertake  a  systematic 
visitation  from  house  to  house,  so  that  by  inquiries  at  the  stores  or  from  the 
neighbors  families  in  distress,  but  too  proud  or  despairing  or  helpless  to 
apply  for  aid,  might  be  reached.  We  called  these  visitors  our  Pioneer 
Workers.  As  these  visitors  discovered  such  cases,  they  reported  them  to 
me,  and  the  families  were  then  assigned  to  our  regular  visitors.  These 
visitors  were  instructed  to  become  acquainted  with  the  families,  ascertain 
their  needs,  and  upon  the  basis  of  a  personal  friendship  relieve  their  wants 
The  personal  element  was  emphasized  over  and  over  again.  For  the  conven- 
ience of  the  visitors,  tickets  for  groceries,  coal,  meat,  and  fuel  were  pro- 
vided, arrangements  for  buying  these  articles  at  a  greatly  reduced  price 
having  been  made  with  the  local  dealers. 

At  first  the  work  seemed  very  difficult  to  our  visitors,  and  the  problems 
presented  almost  insoluble,  but  as  the  idea  of  ministration  through  per- 
sonal friendship  took  possession  of  them,  their  interest  and  enthusiasm  were 
inspiring.  In  spite  of  the  fact  that  great  care  was  exercised  in  distributing 
the  supplies,  there  were,  of  course,  several  cases  of  fraud,  but  the  work  of 
the  winter  has  brought  a  great  blessing  to  those  who  received  and  to  those 
who  gave.  Especial  care  was  taken  to  avoid  duplication  of  work,  and  we 
often  consulted  with  the  parish  priests,  the  charitable  societies,  and  the 
churches  in  the  district.  Every  week  the  workers  met  to  discuss  these  cases 
and  receive  and  give  suggestions.  In  rare  cases  rent  was  paid,  never  back 
rent,  however  ;  but  it  is  a  pleasure  to  bear  witness  to  the  striking  humanity 
of  the  landlords  in  their  considerateness  for  their  tenants.  Twice  during  the 
past  season  an  afternoon  tea  was  given  for  our  newly  made  friends,  and 
both  occasions  proved  delightful  in  the  extreme. 

Nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty  families  were  on  our  books  at  different 
times,  although  not  all  were  regularly  visited.  There  were  about  thirty  in 
our  band  of  visitors.  The  amount  of  money  expended  was  not  above  $600 
or  $700,  while  the  stock  of  love  and  friendship  grew  larger  and  deeper  and 
fuller  the  more  heavily  it  was  drawn  upon. 


25 


Evening  Session. 

Address  by  Rev.  Charles  L.  Thompson,  D.D. 

We  are  here  for  a  purpose  tonight.  We  are  not  a  large  company  ;  there 
was,  once  upon  a  time,  a  company  of  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  souls,  in 
a  room,  which  was  not  a  large  company,  but  it  stood  for  a  large  truth,  and  its 
influence  on  the  world  has  been  large  and  cumulative. 

There  were  thirty  or  forty  ministers  met  in  our  chapel  today  for  confer- 
ence of  a  very  informal  sort.  It  will  be  right,  I  think,  for  me  to  give,  in  a 
few  words,  the  genesis  of  this  movement. 

It  occurred  to  a  number  of  us,  apparently  simultaneously,  in  different 
parts  of  the  country,  that  it  would  be  a  good  thing  if  those  of  us  who  are 
engaged  in  what  is  called  "  Free  Church,"  or  "  Institutional  Church"  work 
might  look  into  each  other's  faces,  might  become  personally  acquainted, 
might  find,  under  whatever  diversities  of  the  work  the  local  conditions  might 
create,  what  common  ground  of  accepted  principle  we  could  stand  upon, 
compare  some  of  our  methods  and  plans,  and  especially  endeavor  to  form 
some  sort  of  a  simple  organization  which  might  bind  us  together  for  the 
future,  that  my  work,  your  work,  might  be  more  effective,  more  inspiring 
to  others,  and  might,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  extend  principles  which  we 
count  so  important  in  the  future  development  of  the  Church . 

Now,  let  us  have  a  very  informal  meeting  tonight.  I  believe  it  is  the  con- 
viction of  those  who  were  present  during  the  day's  congress  that  work  was 
done  for  Jesus  Christ  which  will  tell  on  the  new  century  in  the  adoption  of 
our  principles,  which  will  be  presented  by  and  by,  in  the  formation  of  a 
league,  whose  incipient  meeting  we  hold  tonight,  and  in  such  a  coming 
together  of  our  minds  and  hearts  as  will  send  us  to  our  work  with  new  cour- 
age and  new  hope. 

I  do  not  believe  that  it  would  be  easy  to  exaggerate  or  explain  all  the 
harmony  which  prevailed  in  our  counsels,  from  the  first  coming  together 
from  different  parts  of  the  country.  Working  along  different  lines,  repre- 
senting different  methods,  but  the  same  ideas,  we  found  it  quite  easy  to 
come  together  on  a  very  simple,  strong,  and,  we  believe,  inspired  platform,  in 
an  endeavor  to  re-instate  primitive  Christianity,  as  to  its  simple  elements, 
and  the  methods  by  which  it  might  be  effected  in  the  work.  In  the  organi- 
zation of  that  league  this  afternoon,  it  was,  of  course,  the  eminently  fitting 


26 

thing  to  make  the  Rev.  Charles  A.  Dickinson,  of  Berkeley  Temple,  Boston, 
the  president  of  the  league,  of  whose  work  we  have  heard  so  much,  in  whose 
work  we  so  heartily  rejoice. 

I  have  the  pleasure  now  of  presenting  to  you  the  first  president  of  the 
Open  or  Institutional  Church  League,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Dickinson. 


Address  by  Rev.  Charles  A.  Dickinson,  Boston,  Mass. 

My  Friends  :  — 

I  feel  very  grateful  for  the  honor  that  has  been  bestowed  upon  me  by  my 
brethren.  I  do  not  feel  at  all  worthy  of  it,  and  am  only  willing  to  accept  it 
because  my  heart  is  so  thoroughly  in  this  cause  that  I  am  ready  to  do 
almost  anything  that  will  help  it  on. 

Every  great  movement  has  had  its  day  of  small  things,  and  every  move- 
ment that  has  amounted  to  much  of  anything,  it  seems  to  me,  has  been  at 
first  a  movement  of  slow,  yet  progressive,  advance.  There  have  been  in  the 
air,  for  a  great  many  years,  signs  of  unrest.  We  have  been  reminded,  in 
many  ways,  of  the  dissatisfaction  existing  among  our  laymen  and  our  clergy, 
concerning  the  apathy  and  the  apparent  inefficiency  of  the  present  or  old- 
time  church  organization. 

A  few  men  have  been  working  along  new  lines.  They  have  been  working 
as  independent  experimenters,  and  I  think  they  have  been  working  under  the 
direction  of  God.  No  one  man  assumes  that  he  has  found  the  whole  of  the 
truth,  or,  in  fact,  a  very  large  portion  of  it,  but  when  we  meet  together,  and 
compare  notes,  we  find  that  we  have  all  been  aiming  at  one  mark,  and  we 
have  each  been  able  to  add  something  to  the  knowledge  of  the  others.  I  do 
not  think  that  it  is  my  place  tonight  to  take  much  of  your  time ;  there  are 
so  many  other  good  speakers  who  will  interest  you  that  I  want  to  give  my 
time  to  them.  It  may  possibly  be  fitting  for  me  to  say  just  a  word  about  the 
thought  that  has  been  deepest  in  my  own  mind  and  heart,  and  perhaps  has 
been  to  me  the  inspiring  thought  of  the  work  in  which  I  have  been  personally 
engaged. 

My  conception  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  is  based  upon  my  under- 
standing of  the  word  Emanuel,  "  God  with  us."  To  me,  the  miracle  Emanuel 
is  a  continuous  miracle,  —  the  miracle  around  which  swing  the  destinies  of 
the  human  race.  The  miracle  began  with  the  incarnation,  when  God  took 
possession  of  a  human  form,  in  the  person  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 


27 

The  second  stage  of  the  miracle  is  now  being  developed,  through  what  is 
called  the  new  birth,  or  regeneration.  When  God  takes  possession  of  your 
heart,  and  my  heart,  and  fills  us  with  his  spirit,  we  become,  in  a  sense,  a  part 
of  the  Emanuel.  The  miracle  is  going  on  and  will  continue  to  go  on,  until 
we  shall  come,  finally,  to  the  third  or  culminating  stage.  Some  people  call 
it  the  millennium,  some  the  second  coming  of  Christ;  whatever  we  call  it,  it 
is  a  glorious  consummation,  which  comes  when  God  himself  shall  have  taken 
possession  of  all  humanity,  and  shall  be  incarnate  in  every  human  heart. 
This  is  a  part  of  my  theology,  and  it  is  the  doctrine  upon  which  I  have  based 
my  own  conception  of  the  Church  and  its  functions.  Living,  as  I  believe  we 
are  now,  in  the  second  stage  of  this  miracle,  we  turn  to  the  gospels  and  find 
many  evidences  of  the  truth  that  we  are  a  part  of  the  body  of  Jesus  Christ. 
"  Know  ye  not,"  says  Paul,  "  that  ye  are  the  body  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ?" 
How  he  enlarges  upon  this  truth  that  Christians,  in  the  aggregate,  are  the 
body  of  the  Lord  ! 

Perhaps  I  understand  his  words  more  literally  than  many  people  do. 
The  Church,  as  Christ's  body,  should  furnish  the  material  environment 
through  which  his  spirit  can  be  expressed  to  the  age  in  which  it  exists.  Out 
of  this  thought  grow  a  great  many  others ;  I  will  not  detain  you  with  them 
tonight.  A  single  question  occurs  to  me,  "What  is  this  spirit  of  Jesus 
Christ  which  is  to  be  expressed  through  his  Church  ?  "  I  have  studied  his  life 
in  Paul's  writings,  and  I  find  that  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  New 
Testament  it  is  declared  again  and  again  that  Jesus  Christ  went  about  doing 
good;  that  he  came,  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister;  that  from 
Bethlehem  to  Calvary  his  work  was  one  of  continuous,  outreaching,  self- 
denying,  tireless,  patient  ministration.  Ministration !  A  single  word  that 
sums  up  to  me  the  great  mission  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  Ministering  love, 
expressing  itself  in  every  possible  way,  —  healing  the  sick,  feeding  the 
hungry,  comforting  the  mourner,  sympathizing  with  happy  ones  at  the  feast; 
ministering  in  every  possible  way  to  human  hearts  and  human  needs,  that  he 
might  save  man  from  sin  and  death. 

His  Church  then,  it  seems  to  me,  should  be  filled  with,  and  characterized 
by,  this  same  spirit  of  ministration,  and  as  I  understand  the  institutional 
churches,  which  have  been  represented  here  today,  that  single  word 
expresses  our  mission. 

Ministration  through  adaptation.  Study  the  life  of  Christ  and  you  will 
find  that  he  was  constantly  adapting  himself  to  his  surroundings.  With  the 
fisherman  he  talked  about  boats,  the  sea,  and  the  nets ;  with  the  farmer  he 


28 


talked  about  sowing  the  seed;  wherever  he  went,  he  adapted  his  figures,  his 
methods  of  speech,  to  the  special  capacity  of  the  people  whom  he  desired  to 
reach.  Adaptation,  it  seems  to  me,  should  be  the  great  principle  upon  which 
the  modern  church  should  work.  For  that  reason,  we  have  come  together, 
forty  or  fifty  of  us,  each  one  representing  an  institutional  church,  yet  each 
doing  his  work  a  little  differently  from  his  neighbor.  That,  to  my  mind,  is 
the  secret  of  the  power  of  the  modern  church.  It  aims  to  study  the  condi- 
tions of  the  field  in  which  God  has  placed  it,  and  the  capacities  of  those  to 
whom  it  is  to  minister,  and  adapts  its  methods  accordingly. 

You  have  heard  of  the  old  minister  who  was  told  that  he  had  a  very  queer 
kind  of  a  church  in  the  place  where  he  lived.  "  I  know  it,"  he  replied,  "but 
if  God  is  going  to  have  any  kind  of  a  church  there,  he  has  got  to  make  it  out 
of  the  people  that  are  there." 

We  do  not  like  to  criticise  old  organizations ;  we  have  come  together  in  a 
constructive  spirit;  but  one  of  the  chief  troubles  of  the  old-time  organization 
has  been  its  apparent  rigidity  —  its  inflexibility.  It  has  not  been  willing  or 
able  to  adapt  itself  to  the  change  of  environment  which  is  constantly  going 
on  in  a  great  metropolis  like  New  York.  When  a  church  becomes  a  family 
church,  and  the  families  move  away,  the  church  leaders  say,  "Hadn't  we 
better  move,  too?  "  As  you  enter  a  certain  New  England  city,  you  will  find, 
on  the  hill,  in  one  of  the  most  thickly  populated  wards,  a  church  standing 
empty,  with  locked  doors,  and  yet,  I  am  told  by  one  of  the  former  deacons 
of  that  church  that  there  are  more  people  living  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of 
that  building  than  ever  lived  there  before,  and  that  some  of  the  houses 
which,  twenty-five  years  ago,  sheltered  only  five  or  six  people  are  now  afford- 
ing lodgings  for  twenty-five  or  thirty.  Why  did  that  church  close  its  doors  ? 
Because  it  was  unable  to  adapt  itself  to  its  new  environment.  We  believe 
that  the  church,  in  order  to  do  its  work,  and  carry  out  its  great  mission  of 
ministration,  must  adjust  its  methods  to  meet  the  new  people  who  have  come 
into  such  a  region  as  that.  That  is  what  we  are  trying  to  do  in  Berkeley 
Temple,  which  was  once  a  family  church.  It  dwindled  to  a  small  member- 
ship and  they  were  facing  the  question,  which  comes  to  so  many  churches  , 
of  selling  the  building,  and  moving  away.  Six  years  ago  I  went  there.  We 
introduced  new  methods,  studied  the  population  in  the  vicinity,  took  a  can- 
vass of  the  district,  tried  to  get  at  the  people  along  the  lines  in  which  we 
knew  they  would  be  interested,  and  the  result  is,  the  building  is  not  large 
enough  now  to  hold  the  people  who  come.  Eight  to  twelve  thousand  people, 
each  week,  pass  through  our  open  doors. 


29 

Now,  you  may  hear  something  tonight — I  hope  you  will — about  free  pews, 
open  doors  every  day  and  all  day,  possibly  something  about  a  plurality  of 
Christian  workers,  a  good  deal  about  individual  help  from  every  member  of 
the  church,  but  these  are  merely  extraneous  conditions  of  what  we  believe 
to  be  the  institutional  or  open  church.  One  church  may  use  one  method,  and 
another,  another;  the  thing  which  we  wish  to  emphasize  here  tonight,  the 
thing  we  desire  to  impress  upon  the  public,  is  that  we  stand  upon  the  basal 
principle  of  ministration,  in  the  name  of,  and  for  the  sake  of,  Jesus  Christ ; 
that,  as  churches,  we  do  re-present  him  to  this  world  in  this  age,  and  that 
whatever  our  methods  or  appliances  may  be,  they  are  but  the  natural  out- 
growth of  the  conditions  in  which  we  may  be  placed  as  individual  churches. 

When  Christian  people  get  rid  of  the  exclusive  idea,  —  ?ny  pew,  for  my 
family  to  sit  in ;  my  preacher,  to  preach  for  me  and  mine;  when  they  get  rid 
of  the  idea  of  closed  doors  six  days  out  of  the  seven,  and  twenty  hours  out  of 
the  twenty-four  on  the  seventh  day ;  when  they  get  rid  of  the  idea  that  the 
minister  can  do  all  the  work,  and  feel  that  they  must  provide  him  with  help, 
and  that  the  individual  members  must  carry  on  their  shoulders  some  of  his 
burdens ;  when  they  become  inspired  with  the  idea  that  they  are  a  part  of 
Christ's  body, —  that  they  are  to  look  through  his  eyes,  love  with  his  heart, 
and  speak  with  his  lips, —  then  we  shall  be  on  the  verge,  at  least,  of  the 
millennium. 


Address  by  Rev.  Dr.  Day,  of  Calvary  M.  E.  Church,  New  York. 

The  hour  is  so  late  that  I  must  not  attempt  a  discussion  of  this  question, 
and  yet  I  cannot  resist  the  impulse  to  commit  myself  to  the  cause.  I 
suppose  that,  really,  the  whole  matter  resolves  itself  into  this  :  an  attempt  to 
get  the  Christian  Church  back  to  Christ,  and  to  have  it  stand  for  Christ 
among  men.  We  often  wonder  how  it  wandered  so  far  away  from  Christ, 
and  how  it  happens  that  in  so  much  it  stands  for  so  little  of  Christ.  But 
we  are  commanded  to  go  back  to  Christ,  not  simply  by  our  Lord,  but  by  the 
multitudes  who  are  about  us,  crying  for  our  Lord,  crying  in  this  wilder- 
ness of  time.  We  must  go  to  them,  because  they  do  not  know  how  to  come 
to  us.  And,  indeed,  we  have  very  little  for  them  to  come  for,  and  when  they 
come,  they  are  not  contented  among  us.  We  must  do  just  exactly  what  our 
Lord  did  —  go  where  they  are.    Go  into  their  neighborhood,  and  make  the 


30 

church  of  such  a  character  that  they  shall  not  only  find  it  possible  to  come 
into  its  precincts,  but  more  delighted  than  to  go  anywhere  else.  There  is 
that  in  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  that  is  especially  attractive  to  the  heavy- 
laden  of  this  world.  If  we  can  bring  that  simple  gospel  to  them,  they  will 
hear,  they  will  respond,  they  will  be  blessed ;  but  if  we  bring  to  them  simply 
our  doctrines,  our  distinctions,  our  services,  our  church  architecture,  so  out 
of  all  keeping  and  sympathy  with  that  to  which  they  aspire,  and  that  to  which 
they  are  accustomed ;  if  we  bring  to  them  intellect  simply,  discussion,  argu- 
ment, they  will  not  hear  us ;  they  do  not  want  it.  But  if  we  bring  to  them 
help  for  heavy-laden  hearts ;  if  we  can  enter  into  their  human  nature  with 
remedies,  and  if  we  can  give  a  shoulder  under  their  burdens  to  lift,  and  shed 
a  light  on  their  paths  to  guide,  and  bring  sympathy  into  their  hearts  in  time 
of  trouble,  they  will  want  us,  and  they  will  gladly  receive  us.  And  this  is  not 
peculiar  simply  to  what  may  be  called  the  masses,  but  it  is  true  of  mankind 
in  every  walk  of  life.  Your  rich  man,  your  professional  man,  your  busy  bus- 
iness man — they  all  want  a  gospel  to  help. their  hearts  and  to  bless  their  daily 
lives ;  to  guide  them  in  practical  ethics ;  to  show  them  how  to  fulfil  the 
mission  of  today  J  to  shed  some  light  upon  the  profound  mystery  of  this 
present  being,  and  make  interpretations  of  duty  to  man. 

There  was  a  time  when  the  discussion  of  doctrine  seemed  to  entertain  the 
people ;  they  would  go  to  hear  the  theological  discussion ;  they  will  not  do 
that  now.  If  a  man  wants  a  patent,  if  he  wants  to  know  exactly  how  to 
empty  a  church,  if  he  wants  to  have  a  reputation  for  that  sort  of  thing,  let 
him  go  to  work  to  discuss  mere  doctrine,  and  discuss  it  doctrinally.  The 
people  care  precious  little  as  to  whether  the  Baptist  or  the  Methodist  is 
right  on  the  question  of  fore-ordination,  or  immersion,  or  close  communion. 
They  care  very  little  about  the  settlement  of  the  question  in  the  Presbyterian 
church  that  has  been  agitating  you.  They  care  very  little  about  the  distinc- 
tive doctrines  and  usages  of  any  church,  but,  "  What  have  you  that  will 
help  us,  in  this  age,  to  bear  our  burden  and  meet  our  obligations;  to 
discharge  our  office  as  man  to  man ;  to  make  our  way  through  this  world 
with  some  hope  of  coming  to  another  one  that  is  better  by  and  by?"  And 
the  church  that  preaches  that  the  most,  and  that  preaching  in  the  pulpit  that 
goes  closest  into  that  poor,  burdened  human  nature,  that  sinning  human 
heart,  that  blind  human  eye,  and  gives  salvation  and  gives  light,  is  the 
church  that  is  going  to  have  power. 

I  think  the  day  has  past,  and  will  never  be  recovered,  when  that  old-time 
church  will  have  any  power  over  the  multitudes  of  men  and  women  of  this 


31 

world.  There  will  be  a  certain  few,  who  can  pay  for  it,  and  can  accommo- 
date themselves  in  it,  who  will  have  their  church,  with  its  architecture  to 
their  taste,  a  minister  whose  oratory  is  to  their  taste,  a  choir  with  music  to 
their  taste,  the  congregation  socially  to  their  liking.  There  will  always 
be,  probably,  such  people  in  the  world,  who  will  claim  to  be  known  and 
recognized  as  a  church.  There  will  doubtless  be  this  form  of  Sunday 
club  as  long  as  the  world  stands,  but  such  people  make  up  a  very  small 
proportion  of  this  world  ;  a  very  small  proportion  of  this  world.  The  multi- 
tudes, the  thousands,  ay,  the  millions,  are  of  an  entirely  different  character, 
and  they  are  looking  for  something  entirely  different.  They  want  something 
beside  a  mere  religious  society.  They  want  something  to  enter  into  their 
lives,  down  on  to  their  plane,  to  lift  and  help  them,  and  bless  them,  and  they 
want  it  done  in  a  natural  kind  of  way,  too.  They  want  it  in  a  manly  sort  of 
way,  but  in  a  natural  kind  of  way.  They  don't  want  a  minister  to  stand  on 
stilts.      They  can  never  be  managed  in  that  way. 

Of  course,  we  have  to  recognize  certain  forms  of  church  organization, 
church  service.  The  minister  must  be  educated,  thoughtful,  cultivated  ;  but  of 
all  things  he  must  know  human  nature,  and  sympathize  with  human  nature, 
and  have  the  tact  of  preaching  human  nature, —  talking  men's  thoughts  out 
loud  to  themselves  and  helping  them  to  understand  the  way,  because  the 
preacher  himself  has  gone  over  the  way  before ;  and  then  he  must  associate 
with  men  and  women  of  like  experiences,  and  in  company  with  them,  by 
mingling  with  them  in  the  meeting,  hearing  them  in  conversation,  listening 
to  them  in  the  prayer  and  conference  rooms,  having  association  with  them 
in  a  broad,  helpful,  generous  way,  much  may  be  done  that  can  never  be 
accomplished  in  the  old  way.  It  can  be  accomplished  upon  some  higher 
and  broader  plane,  and  I  believe  that  to  be  the  plane  of  the  Berkeley 
Temple  in  Boston,  the  plane  of  our  free  churches,  the  few  we  have,  in  this 
city,  the  plane  that  we  are  seeking  to  guide  people  to  here  tonight  in  this 
platform  which  has  been  read  to  you,  and  by  these  utterances  which  have 
come  to  us. 

I  would  not  attempt  to  describe  to  you  the  institutional  church  in  all  its 
features  ;  I  think  those  are  things  that  are  going  to  develop  by  and  by.  The 
thought  on  my  heart  is  to  just  make  it  possible  to  have  the  people  who 
come  up  in  the  streets  and  avenues — the  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  in 
this  great  metropolis — to  get  them  to  look  up  to  the  church  as  they  pass  and 
say,  "  There,  that  is  my  shelter ;  that  is  friendly  to  me ;  that  stands  for  me. 
It  does  not  simply  stand  for  the  man  who  can  ride  there  in  his  carriage  on 


32 

Sunday,  and  leave  a  servant  to  care  for  it  while  he  walks  up  the  steps 
and  down  the  aisle  to  the  pew  he  pays  for,  to  hear  a  gospel  he  pays  for,  but 
that  institution  is  open  to  me,  it  is  open  to  my  wife,  it  is  open  to  my 
children,  and  it  is  open  to  their  children,  and  we  are  expected  there  next 
Sunday."  When  every  church  in  this  city  and  every  city  stands  for  that,  so 
that  the  man  who  goes  by  on  Monday  or  Tuesday  glances  in  and  sees  a 
friend  in  it,  a  friendly  face  looking  out  of  every  stone  in  the  wall;  sees  a 
kindly  hand  pointing  to  heaven  in  the  spire,  in  the  door  a  real  welcome  in 
every  panel,  and  says  to  himself,  "  That  is  for  me  ;  I  belong  there,  I  want  to 
go  there  !  "  I  tell  you  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  will  be  doing  things  of 
which  it  is  barely  hinting  in  these  days.  That  is  the  thought  that  must 
come  to  the  people.  It  is  wonderful  how  it  works  where  it  is  attempted. 
People  fear  it  is  not  practical;  that  we  cannot  make  it  work;  that  the  rich 
and  poor  will  not  sit  down  together.  That  is  not  true  ;  it  is  disputed  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  this  land.  My  eye  looks  out  every  Sabbath  where  it  is 
disproved ;  where  the  rich  and  poor  meet  together,  and  rejoice  together,  not 
on  a  plane  of  absolutely  free  pews.  I  don't  know  what  is  the  best  method. 
We  use  the  assignment  of  pews  method.  We  say,  "  Give  what  you  can,  if 
only  ten  cents,  nobody  will  ever  question  ;  if  five  hundred  dollars,  give  it;  it 
is  only  what  you  ought  to  do,  if  the  Lord  has  blessed  you,  or  more  as  the 
case  may  be.  If  you  have  determined  to  give  it,  we  will  assign  you  a  pew 
without  regard  to  whether  you  have  given  ten  cents  or  ten  dollars,  or 
more;  we  will  give  you  the  best  seat  that  is  left  in  the  house,  and  it  may  be 
yours  every  Sabbath,  if  you  will  get  there  in  season."  It  works  admirably. 
The  man  who  drives  a  baggage  wagon  on  one  seat,  the  wealthy  capitalist 
on  the  other.  It  works  admirably.  Where  there  is  real  Christianity  in  the 
people,  real  Christianity  in  the  institution,  the  people,  we  feel,  will  be  friendly 
to  it,  and  will  say,  "  After  all,  this  looks  like  Jesus  of  Nazareth."  He  went 
where  he  could  get  all  the  people  to  hear  him.  They  wanted  to  hear  him. 
Everywhere,  upon  the  mountain,  bythe  sea,  wherever  he  could  go,  so  that  all 
the  people  who  wanted  to  hear  him  might  do  so,  he  went. 

I  think  our  churches  ought  to  be  on  the  plan  of  out-of-doors  —  as  free,  as 
spacious,  as  great,  as  though  people  were  under  a  canopy  out-of-doors.  I 
think  they  ought  to  have  that  sense  of  freedom ;  they  ought  to  be  large 
—  they  ought  to  be  a  great  deal  larger  than  they  are  ;  this  ought  to  be  con- 
idered  a  small  church ;  it  is  now  considered  one  of  the  largest  in  New, 
York  City.  Multitudes  ought  to  be  hurrying,  crowding  through  the  doors, 
hurrying  down  the  aisles,  eager  to  get  a  place  to  hear  the  gospel  of  Jesus 


33 

Christ,  certain  that  they  are  not  to  be  trifled  with,  certain  not  to  have  served 
up  to  them  pieces  of  mediaevalism,  certain  not  to  be  treated  to  rambling 
speculation  on  matters  inconsequent  and  useless ;  where  they  are  certain 
that  they  will  be  told  of  the  character  and  love,  and  the  salvation  brought  by 
the  blessed  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  where  they  will  be  shown  how  to  be  men 
and  women,  shown  how  to  act  as  men  and  women,  shown  how  to  die, 
shown  how  to  be  pleasant  and  helpful,  how  to  please  one  another,  how  to 
please  the  Lord;  shown  how  to  take  poverty  and  make  it  helpful;  how  to 
have  riches  and  use  them  as  a  true  steward  should ;  how  to  take  disease  and 
bear  it  in  the  sight  of  God  ;  how  even  to  take  death  and  let  it  speak  volumes 
to  the  heart  about  the  Creator.  All  these  great  things  will  come  out  of  the 
heart  that  knows  them  and  will  come  out  of  the  church  that  is  seeking  to 
bless  and  save  mankind. 

Precisely  the  same  thing  is  true  of  our  preaching.  We  dislike  to  sacrifice 
our  reputation  of  scholarship,  exceedingly.  We  will  not  give  people  what 
they  want,  but  we  show  them  how  great  is  our  eloquence,  how  rich  is  our 
culture,  how  grand  is  our  oratory.  We  allow  ourselves,  in  this  way,  to 
preach  right  over  their  heads,  and  we  fail  to  help  them. 

Lyman  Beecher,  when  he  spoke  in  Berkeley  Temple,  in  that  Athens  of 
Dr.  Dickinson,  said  that  he  gave  them  quotations  of  Greek  and  Latin,  and 
discussed  science,  to  let  the  people  know  that  he  understood  such  things, 
and  then  gave  them  religion  red  hot.  We  can  imitate  Lyman  Beecher  the 
first  few  Sundays,  and  then  give  them  the  gospel  to  the  end,  and  always. 

This  is  the  direction  in  which  these  brethren  are  seeking  to  point  us  to 
God,  —  the  Church  to  be  the  home  of  the  multitude,  rich  and  poor;  the 
preaching  within  the  church  to  be  preaching  that  will  reach  heavy-laden 
hearts,  that  men  and  women  may  be  blessed  by  it,  and  sent  strengthened  on 
their  way,  the  simple  preaching  of  Jesus  Christ.  We  are  going  to  change. 
We  want  to  be  like  him.  He  talked  those  beatitudes  on  the  Mount.  Let  us 
bring  the  beatitudes  into  our  churches  today. 

I  would  not  call  them  the  "  People's  Churches."  I  like  the  idea  of  calling 
the  church  the  "  Temple."  It  is  grand,  and  at  the  same  time,  according  to 
the  modern  notion,  simple.  I  never  liked  the  terms  "  Tabernacle,"  and 
"  People's  Church."  If  you  told  me  I  was  one  of  the  "  People,"  I  might  not 
feel  inclined  to  go  there.  The  Church  should  not  be  simply  for  the  poor 
man  ;  I  would  have  something  that  stands  for  Jesus  Christ,  for  all  men,  both 
rich  and  poor,  and  say  to  the  proudest  and  the  richest,  "  It  is  for  you,  as 


34 

well  as  for  the  man  who  carries  a  hod,  or  works  for  wage."     Let  it  be  the 
Christ  idea.     Let  him  stand  forth  from  it. 

I  dare  not  go  further,  the  hour  is  so  late.     I  believe  these  brethren  to  be 
on  the  right  lines.     May  God  bless  the  movement. 


Address  by  Rev.  W.  M.  Paden,  of  the  Holland  Memorial  Church,  Phila. 

My  good  friend,  Dr.  Cattell,  who  has  really  a  most  paternal  way  about 
him,  used  to  say,  "  Brethren,  I  am  splendid  on  the  benediction,  just  let  me  off 
with  the  benediction." 

If  I  had  a  word,  it  would  be  that  we  try  to  make  our  church  seem  very 
like  the  Father's  house,  and  we  give  the  prodigal  the  first  place,  and  we  are 
not  hard  on  the  elder  brother,  and  then  if  he  pouts  because  the  prodigal 
gets  the  good  seat  and  the  coat  thrown  in,  we  go  out,  as  the  Master  did,  and 
say,  "Come  in!  Come  in!  All  these  years  thou  hast  been  with  me, 
come  in!"  We  try  to  give  both  the  prodigal  and  the  elder  brother 
the  choice.  Sometimes  the  elder  brother  won't  come  in,  and  we  try 
to  get  the  prodigal,  then,  after  the  prodigal,  we  try  to  get  the  poor.  If  a 
man  is  poor  and  has  not  a  cushioned  seat  during  the  week,  there  is  the  more 
reason  why  he  should  have  it  on  Sunday.  The  salesgirl  who  stands  up  all 
day  during  the  week  should  have  a  fine  seat  on  Sunday,  one  that  is  just  as 
good  for  a  dime  as  the  one  you  pay  ten  dollars  for.  If  the  poor  look  out 
through  factory  windows  —  dusty  and  grimy  —  all  the  week,  they  should 
have  stained  glass,  and  see  Christ  smiling  on  them  on  Sunday.  If  they 
cannot  have  a  good  seat  in  the  Academy  of  Music  to  hear  the  superb  music 
that  is  given  there,  we  should  give  them  as  good  music  as  they  would  get 
there.  If  they  cannot  meet  together  in  their  Father's  house,  with  the 
prodigal  and  the  elder  brother,  if  the  poor  man  and  the  landed  proprietor, 
the  people  with  taste  and  the  people  without  taste,  cannot  meet  together  in 
the  Father's  house,  and  throw  in  together  for  carrying  on  the  work  —  this  is 
a  matter  of  conscience  entirely — we  have  not  gone  back  to  Go'd.  That  is 
where  we  must  all  go.  If  we  can  get  back  there,  we  are  going  to  have  a 
church  that  is  not  a  mere  organization,  but  an  organism,  whose  head  is 
Christ,  whose  heart  is  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  all  the  members  of  it  are  tingling 
with  that  light,  ever-blessed  feeling,  the  touch  of  the  Lord. 


35 


Address  by  Rev.  Edward  Anderson,  D.D. 

In  this  day,  when  the  speculative  is  being  supplanted  by  the  demonstrative 
in  theology,  and  people  are  asking  for  character  rather  than  belief  as  a  test 
to  church  membership,  no  one  is  surprised  that  efforts  are  being  made  all 
along  many  lines  to  secure  a  radical  reform  among  the  masses  of  the  people 
by  methods  of  very  practical  work.  Books  almost  without  number  have 
been  written  upon  ways  of  carrying  moral  reform  to  the  "unchurched 
masses,"  and  of  these  even  novels,  from  Dr.  Holland's  "  Nicholas  Minturn  " 
to  Walter  Besant's  "  All  Sorts  and  Conditions  of  Men." 

Careful  investigation  has  been  made  of  plans  adopted  by  various  organ- 
izations in  England,  from  Toynbee  Hall,  the  Oxford  House,  and  the  Teeto- 
tums, to  the  Salvation  Army,  with  a  view  to  getting  together  people  of  all 
creeds  and  of  no  creed,  under  some  declaration  of  principles  on  which  all 
could  unite  for  the  uplifting  of  the  people  who  will  not  go  to  church  ;  so 
that,  if  they  could  not  be  made  Christians,  they  could  at  least  be  brought 
up  toward  that  high  grade  of  character.  In  order  to  do  this  the  preaching 
of  dogma  has  given  way  to  a  plain  and  simple  gospel  of  ethics;  and,  with 
this,  instruction  in  practical  handiwork,  a  careful  attention  to  gymnastics 
and  amusements,  —  so  that  the  saloon  might  be  eclipsed  in  all  that  it 
offers,  —  libraries,  and  reading-rooms  have  been  provided,  and  all  at  a 
moderate  rate  of  cost  that  would  prevent  their  being  looked  upon  as  char- 
ities. Various  methods  besides  are  being  adopted  for  making  church 
services  entertaining  and  attractive  to  the  masses,  such  as  stereopticon 
lectures  and  the  like. 

And  this  is  being  done  by  an  increasingly  large  number  of  our  Christian 
churches.  The  argument  for  this  is  in  the  fact  that,  however  lamentable 
may  be  the  truth,  a  very  large  portion  of  our  people  do  not  go  to  church  or 
come  under  religious  instruction,  and  that,  so  far,  all  efforts  to  bring  them 
there  have  failed.  It  is  hoped  that  in  these  ways  a  bridge  may  be  thrown 
across  the  chasm  that  yawns  between  our  churches  and  the  great  "  unreached 
masses,"  a*nd  that,  especially,  working  men  and  women,  homeless  and  church- 
less,  may  be  won  to  Christian  men  and  women  who  may  secure  an  influence 
over  them  for  good  by  private  if  not  by  public  speech.  It  is  carrying  into  a 
practical  working  the  process  of  "  hand-picking,"  of  which  so  much  was  said 
at  the  Montreal  Christian  Endeavor  Convention,  and  it  is  really  a  resuming 
of  methods  introduced  by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

Charles  Booth  (in  his  "  Life  and  Labor  of  the  People  in  London,"  Vol.  I., 


36 


Table  19)  shows  that  in  East  London  and  Hackney,  as  estimated  by  two 
days  taken  at  random,  the  church  attendance  was  only  about  twenty-three 
per  cent  of  the  population,  and  of  London  as  a  whole  only  twenty-nine  per 
cent.  He  says  (p.  119),  "  It  is  difficult  to  say  what  part  religion  takes  in  the 
lives  of  the  mass  of  the  people ;  it  is  not  easy  to  define  religion  for  this  pur- 
pose. Comparatively  few  go  to  church,  but  they  strike  me  as  very  earnest- 
minded,  and  not  without  a  religious  feeling,  even  when  they  say,  as  I  have 
heard  a  man  say,  thinking  of  the  evils  which  surround  him,  "  If  there  is  a 
God,  he  must  be  a  bad  one." 

This  idea  is  not  confined  to  the  poor  and  the  bad  of  our  cities,  but  it  is 
gaining  in  our  intelligent  communities  and  among  our  best-educated  and 
most  moral  people.  I  know  of  men,  thoroughly  scientific,  who  say  that  if 
the  churches  will  preach  Christ  and  not  creeds,  and  a  character  in  place  of 
a  dogma,  —  much  of  it  long  since  discarded  by  the  intelligent  masses,  —  and 
will  open  the  churches  to  practical  work  in  place  of  a  bare  theory,  we  will 
find  our  churches  crowded  and  our  membership  doubled. 

Where  people  are  taught  by  the  Christian  church  to  be  better,  and  are 
helped  to  be  better,  they  are  won  to  that  church.  It  may  be  through  such  a 
work  as  Booth  gives  in  the  book  from  which  I  have  already  quoted,  in  his 
"Bill  of  Fare  at  Toynbee  Hall  for  a  single  week,  taken  haphazard"  (pp. 
122-124),  or  it  may  be  in  free  lunches,  or  cheap  lunches  for  teamsters,  and 
where,  of  each  person  who  partakes  of  them,  it  may  be  said,  as  one  of  my 
friends  jokingly  said  of  a  certain  clergyman,  "  We  set  meat  before  him,  and 
he  did  eat ;"  but  it  is  the  heart  shown  in  the  real  Christliness ;  it  is  the  mak- 
ing Christ  and  Christianity  the  same  in  a  simple  humanity. 

This  Christliness  in  humanity  is  a  very  practical  Christianity  that  people 
are  demanding  in  this  day,  when  they  are  realizing  that  religion  is  for  this 
life,  while  the  doctrines  of  the  Church  have  been  teaching  that  it  was  always 
for  another  and  a  future  life.  They  see  the  demand  of  religion  for  character 
now,  and  remind  you  that  even  the  Christ  never  tore  apart  the  veil  that  shuts 
out  our  view  of  what  is  to  come  after  death.  They  realize  that  back  of  all 
Christianity  is  Christ  on  earth,  and  that  all  he  taught  was  of  a  character  for 
the  day-by-day  life,  and  a  complete  trust  for  all  that  is  to  be  beyond,  and 
which  will  take  shape  according  to  what  that  character  has  been. 

The  great  masses  outside  the  Church  ask,  "What  is  the  Christ?"  That 
question  was  asked  of  Jesus  himself  by  the  disciples  of  John,  and  the  picture 
he  gave  was  a  heart-painting,  —  "Go  tell  John  the  things  which  ye  do  see 
and  hear ;  the  blind  receive  their  sight,  the  lame  walk,  the  lepers  are  cleansed, 


87 

and  the  deaf  hear,  the  dead  are  raised  up,  and  the  poor  have  good  tidings 
preached  to  them."  This  was  echoed  in  the  act  at  the  close  of  his  ministry, 
when  he  washed  his  disciples'  feet,  and  said  to  them,  "  I  have  given  you  an 
example,  that  ye  should  do  as  I  have  done  to  you."  Here,  then,  is  the  ulti- 
mate of  the  Christ  teaching,  and  so  of  his  gospel,  —  humanity. 

"Every  tree,"  Christ  said,  "which  bringeth  not  forth  good  fruit  is  cut 
down  and  cast  into  the  fire."  "  Many  shall  say  to  me  in  that  day,  Lord, 
Lord,  have  we  not  prophesied  in  thy  name,  and  in  thy  name  have  cast  out 
devils,  and  in  thy  name  done  many  wonderful  works  ?  And  then  I  will  pro- 
fess unto  them,  I  never  knew  you:  depart  from  me,  ye  that  work  iniquity." 
"  Not  every  one  that  saith  unto  me,  Lord,  Lord,  shall  enter  into  the  kingdom 
of  heaven;  but  he  that  doeth  the  will  of  tny  Father."  Plain  words,  those; 
and  the  people  whom  we  want  to  reach  have  heard  them,  and  are  waiting 
for  the  Church  to  make  a  creed  of  them. 

But  what  is  this  required  work,  and  what  is  the  will  of  God  that  Jesus 
demonstrated  and  taught  ?  The  great  intelligent  unchurched  masses  have 
caught  the  idea  from  him  ;  it  is  the  establishing  of  what  he  constantly  called 
"  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  And  what  is  that  kingdom?  He  lays  down  but 
one  law  for  it,  —  a  law  for  this  world,  but  which  he  said  would  hold  to  the 
next, —  and  that  law  is  brotherhood.  "  One  is  your  Father,"  he  said,  "  and  all 
ye  are  brethren."  Everything  which  he  taught  was  bound  up  in  this.  From 
the  story  of  the  prodigal,  who  cast  aside  his  home  duties,  to  the  picture  of  the 
judgment,  where  all  turned  on  brotherly  acts  of  feeding  the  hungry  and 
clothing  the  naked  and  other  adaptation  of  helps  to  needs,  he  reiterates  this 
law  to  the  exclusion  of  all  besides.  "A  new  commandment  I  give  unto 
you,"  he  says,  "that  ye  love  one  another."  "  By  this  shall  all  men  know  that 
ye  are  my  disciples,  if  ye  have  love  one  to  another."  And  even  Paul  said, 
"  Love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law."  People  are  beginning  to  demand  of  the 
Church  a  recognition  of  this  fact,  as  the  statement  of  all  the  evidence  that 
the  Christ  proclaimed  as  essential. 

Our  Christian  duty  to  the  masses  is  the  showing  out  this  Christ.  It  is 
more  than  of  prayer  or  exhortation,  of  doctrine  and  dogma  and  historic 
succession.  It  is  more  than  the  solemn  face  and  measured  words  and  repel- 
lant  demeanor.  It  is  the  represented  Christ  as  he  is.  It  is  to  go  and  tell 
Johns  who  preach  asceticism  the  sweet,  helpful  story  of  Christian  humani- 
ties. It  is  the  "  going  home  to  our  friends  and  telling  them  how  great  things 
the  Lord  has  done  for  us,  and  has  had  compassion  on  us." 

In  Spain  and  Italy  and   France   and  Germany  the  unbelief  that  is  so 


38 

nearly  universal  is  a  recoil  from  the  inquisition  on  the  one  hand,  and  from 
the  rigidity  of  a  dogmatic  Protestantism  on  the  other.  Mr.  Robertson  says  : 
"  If  infidelity  be  rife  in  this  country,  we  who  are  servants  of  God  have  much 
to  answer  for." 


Closing  Remarks  by  Rev.  Charles  L.  Thompson,  D.D. 

Let  us  go  back  to  our  work  —  the  ways  will  be  various,  but  we  are  united 
in  our  aims.  Take  Christ's  words,  "  The  son  of  man  came  not  to  be  minis- 
tered unto,  but  to  minister."  In  whatever  ways  we  serve,  whatever  our 
plans  and  arrangements,  let  us  try  to  bring  into  our  own  hearts  and  the 
hearts  of  other  people  the  spirit  of  personal  consecration  to  the  work  of 
saving  souls  and  building  up  the  kingdom  of  Jesus.  Let  us  make  that  the 
spirit  of  our  purpose  —  make  everything  else  subservient  to  the  spirit  of 
personal  devotion  to  the  Master. 

We,  this  afternoon,  organized  a  league  for  the  promulgation  of  these 
principles,  the  carrying  out  of  these  ideas,  binding  our  churches  together  in 
common  association.  This  league  will  hold  its  annual  meeting  the  last 
Tuesday  of  October,  at  place,  and  according  to  programs,  to  be  arranged 
by  the  executive  committee. 

Thank  you  very  kindly  for  your  patience,  and  I  trust  that  this  conference, 
crowned  by  this  meeting  tonight,  will  bear  fruit  to  the  glory  of  God,  and 
for  the  prosperity  of  his  kingdom. 


39 


APPENDIX. 


Professor  Momerie  says  ("  Preaching  and  Hearing,"  p.  302) :  —  "  Christ 
has  been  but  little  injured  by  open,honest  opposition.  But  those  who  think 
they  are  Christians  when  they  are  nothing  of  the  kind  —  the  false  professors 
of  Christianity  —  have  very  nearly  been  its  ruin.  Their  whole  lives  are  in 
flagrant  contradiction  to  the  fundamental  principles  of  Christianity ;  but 
having  chosen  to  call  themselves  by  his  name,  they  have  made  his  religion 
appear  contemptible  and  vile.  They  have  crucified  the  Son  of  God  afresh, 
and  put  him  to  an  open  shame. 

"  '  Face  loved  of  little  children  long  ago, 

Head  hated  of  the  priests  and  rulers  then, 
Say,  was  not  this  thy  passion,  to  foreknow 
In  thy  death's  hour  the  deeds  of  Christian  men?'  " 

It  has  often  been  remarked  that  both  counterfeit  and  genuine  nickels  go 
under  the  same  motto,  "  In  God  is  our  trust."  So,  too,  it  is  with  Christians : 
the  good  and  the  bad,  the  real  and  the  spurious,  hold  to  the  same  words 
expressive  of  love  and  trust ;  but  the  spurious  are  even  more  demonstrative 
than  the  real. 

Ah,  we  need  to  bear  it  in  mind  that  what  we,  the  intimates,  say  and  show 
that  Christ  is,  the  people  will  learn  to  say  that  he  is,  be  it  truth  or  lie,  and 
they  will  be  thereby  drawn  to  him  or  repelled  from  him.  We  who  call  our- 
selves the  Church  of  Christ  need  to  be  sure  that  we  are  showing  the  real 
Christ  in  fact,  and  that  we  are  not  thoughtlessly,  remorselessly  showing  for 
him  some  man-conceived  dogma,  or  some  Satan-contrived  abortion,  which 
will  hurt  lives  and  hurt  the  Christ-work  as  it  drives  men  from  him  and  his 
Church. 


The  Open  or  Institutional  Church. 

From  "Christian  World." 

Last  week  we  printed  the   declaration  of   principles  put  forth  by  the 
Open  or  Institutional  Church  League.    Briefly,  the  movement  involves  a 


40 

radical  departure  from  existing  methods  :  it  stands  for  the  popularizing 
of  religion  with  the  masses,  the  keeping  the  churches  open  all  the  time, 
and  the  extinction  of  the  unlovely  pew-rent  system.  Churches  of  this  order 
have  already  been  established, —  one  in  Boston,  the  Berkeley  Temple,  of 
which  Rev.  Dr.  C.  A.  Dickinson  is  pastor;  one  in  Jersey  City, of  which  Rev. 
J.  L.  Scudder  is  pastor;  and  two  in  this  city:  the  Memorial  Church,  of 
which  Rev.  Dr.  Edward  Judson  is  pastor,  and  the  Madison  Avenue  Presby- 
terian Church,  Rev.  C.  L.  Thompson,  D.D.,  minister, — but  not  until  now 
has  the  movement  dropped  its  sporadic  character  and  assumed  definite 
organization,  or  rather  an  organism  evolved  from  a  germinal  principle. 

We  have  presented  two  or  three  salient  points  of  the  new  movement, 
but  more  remains  to  be  said.  While  most  of  our  churches  are  devoted  to 
ministering  to  the  spiritual  nature  exclusively,  and  that  twice  on  a  Sunday 
plus  a  mid-week  service,  the  institutional  church  seeks  to  reach  not  only 
the  spiritual,  but  the  physical,  intellectual,  and  social  nature  of  man.  It 
therefore  "seeks  to  become  the  centre  and  source  of  all  beneficent  and 
philanthropic  effort,  and  to  take  the  leading  part  in  every  movement  which 
has  for  its  end  the  alleviation  of  human  suffering,  the  elevation  of  man,  and 
the  betterment  of  the  world."  It  would  sanctify  all  means  for  improving 
man's  condition,  for  bringing  him  to  Christ  and  keeping  him  there,  and  so 
far  as  possible  would  abolish  the  distinction  between  the  religious  and 
the  secular. 

Concretely  this  means  not  Sunday  churches  only,  but  churches  open 
every  day  in  the  week;  free  seats  —  no  classified  pew  rents;  provision  for 
healthful  amusement  and  recreation  which  will  remove  any  temptation  on 
the  part  of  the  young  to  find  their  way  to  the  bowling  alley  or  to  a  game  of 
billiards  through  the  liquor  saloon;  cleanliness;  reading-rooms,  libraries 
and  means  for  social  intercourse.  The  institutional  church  takes  not  one 
side  of  a  man,  but  all  sides;  it  takes  man  as  God  created  him,  with  "  body, 
soul,  and  spirit,"  and  seeks  to  bring  them  all  under  subjection  to  the  divine 
will  while  yet  aiming  to  secure  for  them  that  training  which  shall  bring  each 
as  near  as  may  be  to  its  ideal  perfection. 

As  we  have  said,  the  institutional  church  seeks  to  become  the  source  and 
centre  of  all  beneficent  and  philanthropic  effort ;  but  this  means  a  very 
great  deal.  It  means,  so  far  as  possible,  the  alleviation  of  all  suffering.  It 
means  that  men  and  women  and  children  are  not  to  starve,  not  to  be  without 
suitable  clothing,  are  not  to  live  in  uncleanliness,  are  not  to  want  fuel  or 
light,  are  not  to  be  sick  unattended,  without  the  physician's  help  and  needful 


41 

medicines.  In  short,  it  means  that  there  is  not  a  necessity  —  we  do  not  say 
a  luxury  —  which  is  not  to  be  supplied.  Where  one  cannot  supply  it  for 
himself  the  church  supplies  it  for  him.  Hence  in  the  city  it  means  kindergar- 
tens for  the  children  of  the  poor ;  it  means  Christian  education  with  the  home 
atmosphere  for  children  of  the  poor  up  to  ten  years  of  age ;  it  means  day 
nurseries,  —  the  creche, — where  mothers  who  go  out  to  work  may  leave  their 
children,  knowing  their  education  and  care  and  amusement  as  well  will  be 
provided  for. 

From  the  nature  of  the  case  this  movement  cannot  take  the  form  of  an 
arbitrarily  governing  organization  where  the  churches  are  directed  along 
certain  rigid  lines.  That  is  not  attempted.  What  is  endeavored  to  be 
accomplished  is  the  grafting  of  these  features  upon  churches  now  without 
them,  and  that  can  utilize  them  wholly  or  in  part,  that  the  work  of  the  church 
may  be  given  its  fullest  efficiency,  its  deepest  significance.  Who  will  not 
bid  God-speed  to  such  a  work  ?  There  is  no  question  that  thousands  of  our 
churches  are  suffering  from  dry-rot.  There  are  Sunday  churches  devoted 
to  the  sermon,  earnest  and  polished  it  may  be,  to  artistic  singing  and  the 
proprieties  three  hours  a  week  — that  is  all  there  is  to  it;  during  the  remain 
ing  one  hundred  and  sixty-five  hours  the  members  come  and  go  as  they 
please,  but  they  never  disturb  the  church  and  the  church  never  disturbs 
them.  We  do  not  say  this  of  all  or  of  a  majority  of  the  churches,  but  we  do 
affirm  it  to  be  true  of  thousands  of  them ;  they  are  cold,  costly  religious 
parlors  or  club-houses  which  serve  no  earthly  or  heavenly  purpose  save  for 
three  hours  on  one  day  in  the  week. 

We  heartily  rejoice  to  record  this  latter-day  movement  of  the  always-open 
institutional  church,  with  its  concern  for  the  whole  man,  with  its  practical 
application  of  Christianity  to  every  phase  of  human  life.  We  believe  the 
theory  and  underlying  principles  of  this  organism  to  be  right  and  in  accord 
with  the  mind  of  Christ.  Varying  its  features  according  to  local  needs  we 
do  not  see  why  this  institutional  organism  is  not  adapted  to  churches  in  the 
country  and  town  as  well  as  in  the  city ;  but  its  especial,  its  fullest  applica- 
tion is  undoubtedly  to  be  found  in  the  more  densely  populated  cities  and 
towns.  This  movement  begun  and  well  under  way  may  well  awaken  the 
attention  of  thoughtful  men  of  the  ministry  and  laity  throughout  the  country. 
It  cannot  be  that  the  present  status  of  our  churches  is  all  that  is  to  be 
desired  or  that  is  possible.  Nor  can  it  be  successfully  maintained  that  our 
churches,  conducted  in  the  main  as  they  were  a  hundred  years  ago,  do  not 
need  a  closer  adjustment  to  the  times  and  methods  of  today,  to  the  changed 


42 

conditions  of  our  latter-day  civilization.  Why  should  there  not  be  advance 
in  the  right  direction  ?  With  all  the  promising  activities  seen  in  our 
churches  today  it  is  to  be  feared  too  many  of  them  do  not  rise  to  their 
opportunities,  while  vast  numbers  fail  to  meet  the  demands  which  society 
today,  with  all  its  turbulence,  its  wild  unrest,  its  temptations,  makes  upon 
them.     Why  not  reach  forth  to  something  better  ? 


Spirituality  and  the  Institutional  Church. 

BY   THE  REV.   WILLIAM   CROSS   MERRILL. 
From  "  The  Outlook." 

At  the  close  of  a  sermon  on  applied  Christianity  the  writer  was  met  by  a 
distinguished  divine  of  the  congregation  with  words  of  generous  approval, 
yet  with  the  mild  demurrer:  "Is  there  not  danger  that  this  institutional 
work  will  weaken  the  spiritual  life  of  the  Church  ?  "  In  editing,  for  a  Cali- 
fornia paper,  an  article  touching  "  The  Church  and  the  Kingdom  of  God," 
by  Dr.  Goodwin,  of  Chicago,  another  clergyman  "full  of  years  and  honors" 
arrives  at  a  like  conclusion.  In  expressing  his  fears,  he  alludes  to  the  last 
report  of  Berkeley  Temple,  to  which  the  name  "  institutional "  was  first 
given,  and  says :  "  This  church,  with  over  nine  hundred  members,  has  added 
only  fifty-six  to  its  membership  on  confession  of  faith  during  the  year." 
These  are  but  two  of  the  many  voices  raised  in  warning  or  protest  in  view  of 
the  growing  demand  for  a  more  practical  application  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ. 
Has  the  solicitude  a  basis  in  reason  ? 

In  the  very  nature  of  the  case,  from  the  tremendous  difficulties  to  be  over- 
come by  Berkeley  Temple,  the  special  pleader  would  hesitate  to  take  it  as  an 
average  test  of  the  institutional  idea.  This,  however,  is  not  an  attempt  to 
"  make  out  a  case,"  but  to  communicate  information ;  and  as  few  churches 
are  likely  to  meet  graver  difficulties  along  this  line,  it  may  be  well  to  let  this 
stand  as  a  type. 

The  Berkeley  Street  Church  furnishes  the  history  of  a  long  and  arduous 
struggle  for  survival  in  a  rapidly  changing  environment.  Meanwhile  it 
enjoyed  pastoral  leadership  of  exceptional  ability,  and  yet,  some  eight  years 
ago,  it  became  the  deliberate  conviction  of  the  ablest  judges  that  the  field 
must  be  abandoned.  To  some  church  about  to  surrender  its  field  of  labor, 
it  may  be  of  interest  to  compare  the  last  six  years  of  the  "  Berkeley  Street 


43 

Church  "  with  the  first  six  years  of  its  institutional  work  as  "  Berkeley 
Temple."  The  table  gives  the  year,  membership,  additions  by  conversion, 
percentage  of  gain  by  conversion,  and  gain  over  all  losses  by  letter  and  con- 
version :  — 

BERKELEY  STREET   CHURCH,    1882-1887. 

Percentage  of 
Percentage  net  gain  by 

Received  on  of  gain  on  letter  and 

Year.  Members.  confession.  confession.  confession. 

1882 604  16  2.65  2.45 

1883 598  2  .33  (I.OO)IOSS. 

1884 595  15  2.52  I.51 

1885 597  7  1. 17  .33 

1886 597  17  2.88  .83 

1887 605  12  1.98  .50 

Totals n-49  4-^5 

BERKELEY  TEMPLE,    1888-1893. 

188S 590  26  4.41  14.40 

1889 597  31  5.19  12.56 

1890 711  66  9.28  13.22 

1891 812  62  776  12.32 

1892 894  52  5.82  9.39 

1893 957  5*  5-39  6.45 

Totals 37.85  68.34 

This  is  the  comparison  of  a  church  with  itself  under  old  and  new  methods  of 
activity.  As  Berkeley  Temple,  working  under  the  divine  injunction,  "  Go  ye 
out  into  the  highways  and  hedges,  and  compel  them  to  come  in,  that  my 
house  may  be  full,"  its  accessions  on  confession  are  more  than  threefold, 
and  its  total  net  gain  is  almost  fifteen-fold.  Compare,  now,  this  institution 
with  four  prominent  Boston  churches  during  the  same  period.  The  statistics 
for  1893  are  not  yet  at  hand;  but  let  the  five  years  1888-1892  suffice.  Let 
the  Old  South  and  Park  Street  represent  the  ordinary  line  of  work,  and 
Union  and  Phillips  the  expressly  evangelistic  methods.  How  have  these 
four  churches  prospered  during  this  period  of  Berkeley  Temple's  probation  ? 
For  economy  of  space  we  will  give  only  the  total  percentages  of  gain  for  the 
five  years  on  confession,  and  total  percentages  of  net  gain  by  confession  and 
letter :  — 

Percentage  of  Percentage  of  total 

gain  on  net  gain  by 

confession.  confession  and  letter. 

1888-1892  —  Berkeley  Temple 32.46  61.89 

Phillips 21.47  40 

"       "  Union 20.95  22-57 

"       "         Old  South 9.63  21.17 

"      "         Park  Street 9.34  (3-14)  loss- 


44 


That  we  may  not  seem  to  confine  the  comparison  to  individual  churches, 
let  us  compare  Berkeley  Temple  with  the  combined  Congregational 
churches  of  three  cities  widely  separated, —  Boston,  Chicago,  and  San  Fran- 
cisco,— taking  as  the  working  church  the  total  membership  less  absentees. 
The  average  percentage  of  yearly  gain  on  confession  during  the  years  1888- 
1802  is  as  follows :  — 


Berkeley  Temple 8.55  I  Chicago  . 

San  Francisco 8.31  |  Boston    . 


7.68 
4.98 


Berkeley  Temple  has  had  unusual  difficulties  to  encounter,  and  yet  the  test 
is  most  favorable  to  the  modern  methods  of  work.  Let  us  take  four  other 
institutional  churches,  widely  separated,  under  more  favorable  conditions, 
figuring,  as  before,  the  percentage  of  gain  by  confession  on  the  basis  of 
membership  less  absentees.  We  take  the  years  i887-i892,and  the  churches: 
Pilgrim,  Worcester;  Fourth,  Hartford;  Tabernacle,  Jersey  City;  Plymouth, 
Milwaukee,  and  the  combined  Congregational  churches  of  the  United 
States,  of  course  not  deducting  the  absentees  from  the  latter.  Should  that 
seem  just,  however,  a  little  less  than  one  per  cent  would  be  added  (about  .93). 


Pilgrim, 
Worcester. 


1887 
1888 
1889 
1890 
1891 

1802 


18.54 
7.86 
3-83 

5-i5 
12.38 

375 


Fourth, 
Hartford. 

2O.83 
4.87 

IO-75 
II.56 

9-34 
947 


Tabernacle, 
Jersey  City. 

l6.8l 

9-23 
9.19 
22.01 
3-84 
5-71 


Plymouth,    United  States 
Milwaukee.      combined. 


14.79 
IO.94 

573 
5-57 
8.44 
1.05 


8.99 
5-47 
5-95 
5-44 
5-83 
5.82 


Totals 51.51  66.82  66.79  46.52         37-5° 

Annual  average   .    .     8.58  11. 14  11.13  775  6.25 

Had  all  the  Congregational  churches  of  the  United  States  attained  the 
same  average  of  gain  on  confession  during  these  six  years,  with  the 
institutional  churches,  it  would  have  increased  their  total  by  a  hundred 
thousand  converts. 

In  certain  quarters  of  every  city  the  institutional  church  has  its  place.  It 
will  not  soon,  possibly  may  never,  become  universal.  Dives,  in  church  as 
elsewhere,  will  fare  sumptuously,  and  from  his  own  hired  pew  will  nod 
conscious  or  unconscious  approval  to  conventional  discourse. 

It  would  seem,  however,  from  the  above  statistics,  that  there  is  large  room 
for  work  along  this  line;  and  when  we  consider  the  sad  fact  that  the  Congre- 
gational churches  of  America,  by  present  methods,  add,  on  the  average 
only  about  six  per  cent  yearly  to  their  numbers  by  conversion,  it  is  not  diffi- 


45 

cult  to  see  where  the  real  danger  of  spiritual  decadence  lies.  Already,  for 
some  years,  the  cry  of  young  Germany  has  been,  "  Away  from  the  Church  ! 
It  will  do  nothing  for  us."  It  may  be  a  selfish  judgment ;  unjust,  entirely, 
it  is  not.  It  is  sympathy  in  the  concrete  that  men  need,  and  from  the  hand 
that  gives  they  very  quickly  penetrate  to  the  motive  that  inspires. 

It  is  very  much  to  be  desired  that  Christians  who  look  kindly  upon  this 
work  shall  not  permit  themselves  to  be  prejudiced  by  the  intense  utterances 
of  a  few  men  who  feel  called  to  be  agitators,  and  perhaps  prophets  of  a 
revolution  speedily  to  come.  As  a  rule,  these  churches  are  showing  much 
good  sense  in  moving  along  lines  of  evolution  and  not  revolution.  We  are 
bound,  in  all  Christian  charity,  to  accept  as  the  true  genius,  spiritually,  of 
this  forward  movement  the  aim  enunciated  by  one  of  its  most  busy  pastors  : 
"  Every  one  of  these  multiple  agencies  for  helping  men  is  held  absolutely  as 
a  means  to  a  spiritual  end." 

It  is  useless  for  churches  in  close  contact  with  the  masses  to  seek  to  salve 
their  wrongs  with  the  Christian's  panacea  that  the  evils  of  this  world  will  be 
set  right  in  the  world  to  come.  The  unregenerate  will  tell  us  that,  since  the 
same  God  rules  in  either  world,  the  certain  misery  of  this  casts  a  shadow  on 
the  possible  happiness  of  that,  and  that,  at  any  rate,  they  do  not  propose  to 
wait  for  it. 


46 


MEMBERSHIP. 


Any  person  can  become  a  member  of  the  Institutional  Church 
League  by  paying  the  sum  of  $1.00  a  year.  Those  desiring  to  join 
the  league  can  send  their  names  with  the  money  to  Rev.  F.  M. 
North,  150  Fifth  Ave.,  New  York.     Room  16. 


i 


w 
| 


This  system  has  been  in  use  four  years  at 
Berkeley  Temple  (Boston),  in  which  the  "Insti- 
tutional Church  "  movement  originated,  and  is 
in  use  in  the  Madison  Avenue  Presbyterian 
Church  (New  York),  in  which  the  first  confer- 
ence of  the  "  Institutional  Church  League " 
was  held. 


The  Offertory  Calendar 
Increases  Weekly  Offerings 
From  50%  to  100%.      { 


The  Offertory  Calendar  is  rapidly  becoming 
known  as  the  "  ideal  system  for  church  collec- 
tions." It  is  only  a  question  of  a  short  time 
when  it  will  be  in  general  use  throughout  the 
churches  of  the  country. 


Circular  containing  full  OFFERTORY   CALENDAR  Co., 

information,  free.  47   Franklin   Street, 

Sample  Calendar,  15c.  BOSTON. 


